Elements from Tawhid and Jihad movements Algiers – Hocine Bousaleh Algerian security services continue the investigations into the identity of the body which is suspected to be that of the leader of the Tawhid and Jihad movement, Lamin Ben Shanab, nicknamed Abu Aisha. The murder of Shanab in clashes between his armed group and the Algerian army in the south of the country was reported a few days ago, according to security sources.
Official sources reported that the Ansar al Din movement ( Supporters of Religion ), which controls northern Mali, and allied to al Qaeda and Tawhid and Jihad  movements, had its leader, Iyad Ag Ghali offered to peacefully withdraw from its regions in northern Mali in return for 60 million euros (78.4 million US dollars) to be paid by the Malian government.
Ouargla security services on Monday took DNA samples from the relatives of Shanab, a routine procedure which is carried out by the security forces in cases of mutilated bodies. The same sources said that the investigators suspected the identity of the killed militant in Tamanrasset state, south of Algeria last Sunday after clashes with the army forces that lasted a long time.
The security source added that the body is almost identical to the description to Shanab's. He was a  former member of Southerners for Justice Movement who claimed responsibility for the attack that targeted Djanet airport on November 10 in 2007 before joining Tawhid and Jihad, an ally of al Qaeda in the Sahara region. He was one of the most wanted figures by the Algerian security.
Shanab last appeared in a video tape to confirm the assassination of the Algerian diplomat Taher Touati by Tawhid and Jihad Movement in September 2012. He also critisised how the government handled the abducted diplomats file as the movement extended the first deadline by three days, but the stance of the authority led the leaders of the movement to carry out their promise.  
In another context, army forces were able to eliminate one of the members of al Qaeda in Chlef region on Monday evening and seized his Kalashnikov weapon after an ambush by army troops against an armed group.
One soldier in the army was injured during the clashes and was directly transferred to the nearest hospital in the region, according to local security sources.
Iyad Ag Ghali mentioned that his movement believes in the need to find a solution for North Mali before foreign intervention which he believes would harm the country.
The leader of the extreme group Alozoadah confirmed that his group has begun a truce with the National Movement for the Liberation of Azwad MNLA and  requested al Qaeda leaders to go to Nigeria, following Boko Haram, is a violent
jihadist militant organisation based in the northeast of Nigeria.  
The statements of Ag Ghali coincided with the current events in Abidjan. The economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) held a meeting to discuss the probabilities of military intervention as the Interim Malian President Diokunda Traore  demanded  African involvement, especially on the logistics side, to restore the territorial integrity of Mali.
Some observers of the Sahel file believe that the Ansar al Din movement was forced to take such decision because of the financial crisis experienced by Ag Ghali group after it failed to abduct hostages, in addition to the current developments and the assassination of the Algerian diplomat. All these developments pushed Ag Ghali to seek an exit route, before the outbreak of a war which nobody can predicts its outcome.
In the same context , press reports revealed that a delegation from Ansar al Din arrived to Tamanrasset city ( South of Algeria ), headed by Abbas Ag Antilla who is known as a moderate. He met a number of leaders in the Malian army to discuss a road map to solve the crisis in north Mali.
In a related context, MNLA  leader Bilal AG Sharif  who is currently in Senegal, has similiarly negotiated with the Malian government, in order to put a road map to save the country from a destructive war without foreign intervention which would result in the country and the whole region becoming another Syria .