Who is to blame for death of 38 hostages in Algeria?

Mokhtar Belmoktar, an Algerian al Qaeda leader, is the mastermind behind the kidnap attack in Algeria on Jan. 16 which led to the death of 38 hostages, the Algerian government announced on Jan. 21 local time.

"The kidnap is a legacy of the Libyan war, and French intervention in Mali is just a trigger," said Qu Xing, director of the China Institute of International Studies (CIIS).

Military operations in Mali expand

"Although the dust has settled on the kidnap incident, heavy losses cannot be forgotten, and similar incidents may happen again. The problem has not been fundamentally resolved. As Africa is still plagued by poverty and imbalanced development, and the West frequently uses force to create hatred and disintegrate certain countries in the region, certain local organizations who oppose the West's acts may resort to retaliatory violence again," Qu said.

Mali rebels are not a mob.

"Ideologically speaking, Mali rebels pursue Islamic theocracy, and want to overthrow secular regimes in the Islamic world and get rid of Western influence" said Dong Manyuan, a deputy director of the CSII.

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