They know it in Paris, Rome and Madrid. There is a big security hole to the south of Europe, the existence of which is confirmed by ongoing hostage crises involving citizens from France, Italy and Spain. The hostages are being held by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which has celebrated its third anniversary with a wave of kidnappings, including the seizure of three Spanish NGO volunteers who were, perhaps foolhardily, driving their convoy of aid through Mauritania. AQIM, the result of a merger between the Algerian terrorist organization the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat and Al-Qaeda, has quickly become a pan-regional network, attracting young, radicalized Islamists from as far...