US charges man in Algerian pipeline terror attack

Observer/Guardian:

Federal prosecutors in the US have charged the fugitive militant leader Mokhtar Belmokhtar over the Algerian gas plant attack in January that killed more than 30 people, including Americans and Britons.

The charges, which are being filed in New York, include conspiring to support al-Qaida, using a weapon of mass destruction, discharging a firearm and using and carrying an explosive. Additional charges of conspiring to take hostages and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence carry a maximum penalty of death.

Authorities said a $5m reward was being offered for information leading to the arrest of Belmokhtar, who's also been known as "the one-eyed sheikh" since he lost an eye in combat. Belmokhtar left al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, the north African offshoot of the terrorist group, and formed his own spinoff.

He is accused of participating in the 16 January attack on a western-owned gas processing facility in a remote part of eastern Algeria near the border with Libya.

After a four-day standoff the Algerian army moved in and killed 29 attackers and captured three others. At least 37 hostages, including one Algerian worker, died in the battle. Three Americans and scores of Algerian and foreign nationals were killed.

Belmokhtar "unleashed a reign of terror years ago, in furtherance of his self-proclaimed goal of waging bloody jihad against the west", US attorney Preet Bharara said in a release. "His efforts culminated in a five-day siege that left dozens dead."

The court papers said Belmokhtar appeared in an online video the day after the siege ended, claiming responsibility for the attack on behalf of al-Qaida.
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This looks like a reversion to the failed lawfare policies of the past.  This must mean Obama has not been able to target this with a Hell Fire attack from a drone.  It also must mean that he is not willing to send special ops troops to find him.