ground was to further understand how how real and significant a threat al qaeda and the islamic iqim poses to mali and the countries in the region. three americans were killed in algeria just a few weeks ago in a terrorist-led kidnapping and attack on a gas facility in the desert and the same folk who is led the attack on the benghazi component linked remotely to the folks taking action in northern mali and just this week, the french military seized i think 35,000 tons of libyan arms that had been relocated to the deserts in the north of mali. this is an area the size of texas and al qaeda affiliates seeking to use it as a new base from which to launch attacks on french, american interests and regional african allies. yes, facing the sequester, facing record deficits we have financial challenges of our own in this country but in this particular situation where our allies are doing the fighting,
the multilateral african force. we met with the major general of nigeria and with the minister of defense from mali and his leadership. and with the french military commander and to get a briefing from our own diplomatic and intelligence community about the situation on the ground and to have a chance to question the french, the malian and military commanders about how they saw the path forward. we had a chance to meet with some of the folks who fled from the north and seeking shelter in the south and to hear from them personally about what circumstances were like in timbuktu and some of the northern cities where they have suffered under jihadist rule over nine to ten months. congresswoman, this is an example where we as americans must keep our eye on the ball, for example, in mali. we saw what happened in somalia and yemen, as well, where groups linked to al qaeda or jihadists