Al-Qaida’s link with GSPC predates the terrorist attacks on America of Sept. 11, 2001. Indeed, Osama bin Laden’s organization has always had a subtle presence within the Algerian group, largely because many GSPC members were combatants in the Afghan war against the Soviets. Allegedly, Hattab was encouraged by al-Qaida to splinter off from the GIA and create the GSPC with the funding that bin Laden’s group provided him. However, in a carefully worded interview in 2005, Hattab denied that there were any links between his organization and al-Qaida during his tenure as leader – despite an earlier claim that cited his departure from GSPC as a result of ideological disagreements stemming from Bin Laden’s increasing influence over the group.

The GSPC has been designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. Department of State since 2001. The Algerian group is a Salafist Sunni movement with a Wahhabist orientation, an ideology rooted in a fundamentalist interpretation of the Koran. Although one can argue that the group’s objectives have changed now that it has become more pan-Islamist and has solidified al-Qaida’s world view within its own mission objectives, but its primary goal to establish an Islamic state in Algeria still remains at the forefront of its campaign.

While unifying with al-Qaida may benefit the GSPC, any association with bin Laden’s organization is obviously not without its risks. For instance, when, in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks in America, Hattab espoused al-Qaida-like rhetoric, threatening that the GSPC would strike European and American interests if they attacked Middle Eastern countries or disabled their networks, the Algerian organization’s assets were frozen under U.S. Executive Order 13224.

Considered alongside increased arrests by Algerian authorities and closer ties with the pan-Islamist ideology of al-Qaida, it could be perceived that the organization is spreading itself too thin to pursue its original goal of installing an Islamic state in Algeria. However, this is made less significant when considering that al-Qaida will most likely provide the assistance AQIM needs to carry out new attacks in Algeria and abroad.