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\t\u00a0A top figure of Malian Islamist group Ansar al-Din was arrested near the Algerian border, AFP quoted a Malian security source as saying on Monday (February 4th).<\/p>\n
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\tMohamed Moussa Ag Mouhamed “was called Ansar al-Din’s number three, but in reality he was the brain of the organisation”, Kidal official Abdoulaye Toure said.<\/p>\n
\tIt was unclear whether the secular Touareg National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA<\/a>) or Ansar al-Din splinter group Islamic Movement of Azawad (MIA<\/a>) had captured the Islamist in Hillal.<\/p>\n \tA suspect sought in connection with the November kidnapping of French retiree\u00a0Gilberto Rodriguez Leal<\/a>\u00a0was also arrested in the area, Toure said.<\/p>\n \tIn related news Sunday, Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci said that the\u00a0Algerian diplomats<\/a>\u00a0held in Mali by al-Qaeda splinter group Movement for Tawhid and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO<\/a>) were “in a safe place”.<\/p>\n \tTunisian salafists destroy more Sufi shrines<\/a><\/p>\n \t2013-02-04\u00a0Tunisian salafists desecrated two\u00a0Sufi shrines<\/a>\u00a0in Monastir and Mahdia,\u00a0Tunisie Numerique\u00a0reported on Sunday (February 3rd). Late Saturday night, the mausoleums of Sidi Abdeljabbar in Jammal and Sidi Amor Bouzid in Awlad Chamakh were set ablaze.<\/p>\n \t“There is a systematic plan by some religious extremist groups to completely destroy these historical symbols; something that indicates an intention to target our national memory,” Culture Minister Mehdi Mabrouk said earlier in January.<\/p>\n