Are Algerian "jihadists" just in it for the money?

Photo courtesy of Adventure, a LexicOrient product.

El Oued, the "city of a thousand domes"

From today's Washington Post report direct from Algeria:

According to intelligence officials in Europe, more than 100 Algerians are in prison here after being detained on their way to Iraq or upon their return, adding to worries that the far-off conflict is breeding battle-hardened fighters who could come back to haunt North Africa or nearby Europe.

As the Post continues:

Algerian security services have arrested 17 suspected members of an Iraqi recruiting ring based in El Oued, a Saharan oasis known as the "city of a thousand domes" for its unusual desert architecture.

...Analysts and journalists said El Oued, with a population of about 150,000, has a long history of supporting radical causes and was a key stop on smuggling routes into nearby Libya and Tunisia.

In early May, Algerian authorities discovered a makeshift guerrilla training camp in a palm grove several miles outside El Oued.

And here is a curious detail:

In the past, U.S. and European officials said, it was much easier for underground recruiters to persuade young Algerians to go to Iraq to battle U.S. forces than to get them to stay home and take up arms against the government and their fellow citizens. The Iraqi networks were also better financed than their local counterparts, officials said.

By re-branding itself as an al-Qaeda affiliate, the Algerian group has boosted its own fundraising and become more competitive in the marketplace for recruits, Algerian analysts said.

Liess Boukra, an Algerian terrorism expert, called the recruitment business "a real trade in cannon fodder."

"Indeed, it is possible that the recruiters for Iraq could redirect their combatants toward new operations, either in Algeria or somewhere else in the Maghreb or in the world," he said. "It depends on the nature of the request and how much they're willing to pay."

How much they're willing to pay?? Does this mean the Algerian jihadists are mercenaries? Fighting jihad for the money???? And deployable wherever they are paid the most?????

I guess Al Qaeda is now outsourcing the jihad function.