Qaeda targets U.S. oil interests in N.Africa: report

NEW YORK-Al Qaeda's growing north Africa network plans to attack U.S. interests seeking control of the region's energy riches, its Algerian-based leader said in remarks published on Tuesday.The network of militants from Mauritania to Libya sees U.S. interests as legitimate targets because Washington backed the region's "criminal" governments and stole Algerian oil, the New York Times quoted Abdelmalek Droukdel as saying."We found America building military bases in the south of our country and conducting military exercises, and plundering our oil and planning to get our gas," Droukdel, also known as Abou Mossab Abdelouadoud, was quoted as saying."Therefore, it became our right and our duty to ... declare clearly the American interests are legitimate targets."OPEC member Algeria, Africa's second largest country, denies it has foreign military bases on its soil.Asked whether his group planned attacks on U.S. soil, Droukdel replied, referring to the U.S. administration: "Everyone must know that we will not hesitate in targeting it whenever we can and wherever it is on this planet."He said Algeria's banking of its energy export receipts in U.S. and European financial institutions showed that the Algiers government served western interests. He added that French, Spanish and "Jewish" interests were also targets.The newspaper said Droukdel, believed to based in mountains east of Algiers, had given recorded audio replies to a list of questions submitted by the Times.His voice had been verified as genuine by a private voice expert who works for federal agencies, the newspaper said.
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