CONFIRMING MY SUSPICIONS, StrategyPage reports:

Western and Arab intelligence sources claim that Al-Qaeda is building secret bases in Mali’s Sahara desert (especially in the north, and the area near the Algerian border) with the help of Algerian extremists. Regional intelligence spotted an influx of Islamic extremists from Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan, concluding that Algerian extremist groups were helping them relocate to the Sahara.

The Sahara, stretching between Mauritania and southern Libya, is only loosely patrolled by the forces of Algeria, Libya, Niger, Mauritania and Mali.

There seems to be a lot going on out there.