The rise of the 'Tashliks'

The volume describes how Algeria’s corrupt generals instrumentalised the ‘global war on terror’ (GWOT) in the Sahara-Sahel to create what local people regard as a ’narco-terrorist empire’ in the central Sahara. The word Tashlik is given by the Tuareg to the Arab tribes of Mauritania, Mali and Niger with whom Algeria’s generals have established lucrative drug trafficking and other criminal businesses, usually in exchange for the purchase of Algerian property and citizenship. The word derives from the Tuareg expression techleg ekerbey, meaning ‘carrying one’s trousers on one’s shoulder.’ The Moors of Mauritania traditionally wore large gandouras. To preserve the material, they would take off their trousers when travelling on camels and carry them. The term Tashlik has become a euphemism for vulgarity and what Tuareg consider as Arabs’ vulgar pre-occupation with money.

The book reveals how Algeria’s corrupt generals, working with ‘Tashliks’, have used the GWOT to expand from drug trafficking to a range of other criminal activities such as: illicit gold mining; the sale of false identities and real estate; arms and people trafficking; border control operations; and a range of racketeering activities that now spread from Algeria to parts of Europe, Turkey, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates and elsewhere.