Citation

Keenan J. Anthropol. Today 2009; 25(4): 14-18.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1467-8322.2009.00677.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In this article, the author analyses the recent spate of 'westerners' taken hostage in the Sahara, reportedly by Al-Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The article, drawing on Keenan's earlier analyses of some three dozen hostage-takings in the region since the launch of the US 'War on terror' in the region in 2003, raises questions about the extent to which AQIM is associated with the Algerian and other regional intelligence services; the extent to which western intelligence services have been compromised by their wider geo-political and commercial interests and their attempts to manipulate AQIM; and the ethical dilemmas facing anthropologists working in such regions as to how they should position themselves in the interface between anthropology and intelligence.