Secretary of state tells Senate committee that al-Qaida in the region threatens African allies and poses direct threat to the USHillary Clinton has called for increased US military and political intervention in north Africa, and warned of a long, difficult but necessary struggle against a "spreading jihadist threat" in the region.The US secretary of state singled out the French-led intervention against armed Islamists in Mali as the most urgent crisis, but said that al-Qaida in the region, newly armed and invigorated by the fallout of the Arab revolutions, also threatens important allies ... Read More