>> mokhtar belmokhtar. he's been a jihadist since his late teens. feared and revered in northern africa. he lost an eye fighting in afghanistan. "one-eye" is one of his many names. he's called the prince, and mr. marlboro, a name he earned as a successful smuggler of cigarettes and drugs. mokhtar belmokhtar was feared. we were forced to turn back and returned safely. but former canadian diplomat mark fowler wasn't so lucky. he was takenpy belmokhtar's brigade in 2008 in niger. >> i was terrified that the whole thing were end with a knife at my throat like daniel pearl. >> reporter: fowl uer, eventually released, said he called him "one-eyed jack" and describes him as a survivor. >> he's a very tough guy. he's been through it all. and he's very careful. but he's not in any way a romantic. it's all about getting the job done with very fierce focus. >> reporter: fierce focus that belmoke do you remember h belmokhtar has used to form alliances. libya, algeria, mauritania, mauli, marrying the daughter of an arab leader from timbuktu. he named his son osa

the leader of that terror group that mark just told us about mokhtar belmokhtar has an entourage that calls him the prince but that's just one of his aliases and we asked david martin to find out more about him. >> mokhtar belmokhtar, a.k.a. one eye, because he lost an eye fighting in afghanistan. a.k.a. the marlborough man because he made a living smuggling cigarettes. no westerner knows him better than former canadian diplomat robert fouler who was his hostage in 2008. >> he would stand sentry duty, he would work in the kitchen but there was absolutely no doubt who was the boss. he wasn't a flashy guy in any way. he was rather soft spoken but as soon as he began speaking everybody would listen. >> reporter: belmokhtar has been known to intelligence agencies as the north african affiliate of al qaeda called al qaeda in the islamic maghreb. >> they would tell me repeatedly we fight to die while you fight to go home to your wives and kids, how can we possibly lose. they believe their fight was god's fight and because it was god's fight it would be won. >> reporter: they began under a d

would belmokhtar have tried to kill whatever hostages were left?g out of every terrorist attack that he carries out. and so just executing hostages has never really been his m.o. >> reporter: and there's a chance that belmokhtar may be wheeling and dealing again. a news agency reports in exchange for american hostages, the militants at that algerian gas facility are demanding the release of aafia siddiqui and of omar abdel rahman, serving a life sentence for plotting the 1993 world trade center attack. there's no way they'll get those people in exchange for those hostages. we'll see what happens. >> is there any indication that belmokhtar has been on the ground at that gas facility in algeria physically leading the operation? >> reporter: we don't know for sure at this point. but the analysts we spoke to say he's likely not there. he's most likely somewhere in northern mali commanding this operation from afar. analysts say he spent an experienced commando unit to launch this attack, called the "a" team of his group. >> brian todd, thank you for tha

and now, the u.s., england and france are setting their sights on the one-eyed belmokhtar and his rogue group of al qaeda fighters. >> these are very experienced desert fighters. they've been at it a long, long time. >> reporter: one of his recent kidnap victims, u.n. diplomat robert fowler of canada, held for four months until freed in 2009, says he dealt directly with belmokhtar. >> he's very, very cold. very business-like. very focused. >> reporter: and someone, fowler says, who clearly targets americans and other westerners. >> brian, i cannot tell you the extent to which they hate us. they believe we are evil incarnate. they believe the west is one great sodom and gomorrah. >> reporter: which is why the emergence of belmokhtar and other groups claiming a connection to al qaeda has led to u.s. and french military action in unstable african countries that were never before seen as terrorism threats. >> when this incident is finally over, we know we face a continuing, ongoing problem. >> reporter: the problem, the fear is that africa could turn into a new afghanistan, where al qaeda c

the man apparently behind the attack is mokhtar belmokhtar.e is said to have issued a statement calling for an end to the french military intervention against islamist rebels in mali. reports say some of the hostages have escaped from the besieged compound, but it is still a very serious standoff in the sahara desert. there's plenty more on gmt. do stay with us. news at bbc.com/news. >> funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to understand the industry you operate in, working to nurture new ventures and help provide capital for key strategic decisions. we offer expertise and

as nima reported, mokhtar belmokhtar is the one taken responsibility. he is in mali often.hen we were along the border this summer, we were told he was in a town that was nearby. he is also now apparently from what we understand working with some other groups, including ansar dine. i spoke to the military commander about how many fighters we have and what their goals are. i wanted to play for you what he had to say and get your reaction. >> listen the numbers of fighters doesn't mean much for us. it is 2000 or if it is 10 people only. it makes no difference. it's no longer only in north mali. how serious are these groups coming together and their intents from your understandings and the briefings you have received? >> well, very serious. we've been looking at northern africa for some time. i have been there. i sent some folks from my team there back in september. what we found before, remember, they have been making money through ransom for some time, even before joining al qaeda. they were the single largest contributor for many years. they are certainly well-organized. i

belmokhtar even named one of his sons after osama bin laden. >> he's very tough, seems physically demanding, he demands a lot of his people and therefore yes i'd say he's a tough enemy. >> reporter: whatever name he operates under, belmokhtar has suddenly emerged from the north african desert as america's newest enemy. >> pelley: david, thank you. after a decade of lies lance armstrong admitted he used banned performance-enhancing drugs through all seven of his wins at the tour de france. the disgraced cyclist didn't tell all but he told a lot in an interview with oprah winfrey aired last night. we asked jim axelrod to look at where this leaves armstrong now. >> i view this situation as one big lie that i repeated a lot of times. as you said it wasn't as if i just said no and i moved off it. >> reporter: now that armstrong is no longer repeating the lie, he may face a number of lawsuits that could decimate his estimated net worth of more than $100 million. the largest involves his long-time sponsor, the u.s. postal service. armstrong's postal service contract specifically banned doping. a l

as nima reported, mokhtar belmokhtar is the one taken responsibility. he is in mali often.hen we were along the border this summer, we were told he was in a town that was nearby. he is also now apparently from what we understand working with some other groups, including ansar dine. i spoke to the military commander about how many fighters we have and what their goals are. i wanted to play for you what he had to say and get your reaction. >> listen the numbers of fighters doesn't mean much for us. it is 2000 or if it is 10 people only. it makes no difference. it's no longer only in north mali. yes, it is, not only -- >> congressman, i don't know if you speak french. our viewers could read that. i don't know if you could. the number of our fighters doesn't matter, whether we have 2000 or 10. it makes no difference. it is no longer in northern mali. it is not only bamako, it is the entire western africa we are going to hit and the united states and britain. a lot is their intent and their goal and bravado. how serious are these groups coming together and their intents from you

that's mokhtar belmokhtar. >>> let's talk about u.s.s who are going to get a up close look at the dream liner. four u.s. officials and two boeing representatives will inspect the planes. on wednesday, the pilot received a cockpit warning. all dreamliners worldwide have been grounded. >>> a different sort of plane problem in miami but just as frightening. two planes clipped one another on the runway. a flight coming in from argentina, and a plane leaving for paris. both planes were damaged. nobody was hurt. all the passengers were taken offer of the planes. >>> football star manti te'o remains mum this morning about an internet hoax centering on the girlfriend that never existed. he's in florida working out ahead of the nfl draft. he stayed silent yesterday amid the questions whether he's a victim or is he actually involved in this whole thing? >>> and we told you earlier this week about the successful recovery of a 5-year-old girl who was aqueducted from her school in philadelphia. police are still looking for the woman who took the chi

they believe the west is one great sodom and gomorra. >> belmokhtar, also known as mr.inister, david cameron, is preparing for the worst. he said i think we should be prepared for the possibility of further bad news. very difficult news. they already know one person who died but bracing for the worst. >> we'll hope for the best, though. >>> all right. well, the remodeled aurora, colorado, theater where 12 people were shot and killed has reopened for the first time in six months. those who lost loved ones and survivors were invited to attend what was billed as a special evening of remembrance, followed by a showing of "the hobbit." some relatives boycotted the event, calling it insensitive. but colorado's governor addressed the crowd, saying it's important not to let evil trump good. the theater is offering free movies to the public over the weekend. >>> a new york city elementary school placed on lockdown after a second grader brought a loaded gun to school. students say the 7-year-old boy was showing off the .22 caliber and a flair gun as well to classmates. terrified

officials say they will work with the french and others to make sure belmokhtar pays a price. >> those who would wantonly attack our country and our people, will have no place to hide. >> reporter: details about exactly what is happening this morning at the facility remains very sketchy. not only to reporters who are being kept about 20 miles away. but also to government officials in london, washington and paris, who encourage algerians to make the safety of the hostages their first priority. >> wonder if there's tensions between the american government and the algerian military this morning. brian, thank you very much. we appreciate it. >> get information back. brian, thanks. >>> we turn, now, tonight two of lance armstrong's public confession to years of cheating, doping and lying to the whole world about it. armstrong began to break down when he talked about his family. abc's neal karlinsky has been all over this story from the very beginning and joins us with more. neal, in many ways, this seemed to be the more compelling of the two interviews. >> reporter: it certainly was. good m

knew because, he told me, he's working with because of al qaeda's most senior leaders, mokhtar belmokhtar, the person claiming responsibility for the january 16th attack. omar hamaha made claims how widespread the terror network is in north africa when i asked how many fighters he had. >> translator: listen. the number of fighters is not important for us. be it 10,000 or only 10 people. we're going to hit in the heart all the countries of west africa. it's no longer only in northern mali. yes, it's not only in bomoko. it will be western africa. not only western africa, a big battle against france and the united states and all the other countries that want to intervene. >> retired general wesley clark is the former nato commander, retired air force colonel cedric layton is a former intelligence of a certificate. officer. great to see you both. general clark, let me start with you. barbara starr just reported the algerian government has not been cooperating. the cia has been trying to piece this together themselves. this makes it very complicated and much more difficult. but only now, more

>> it is a serious one, mokhtar belmokhtar has said we're going to go after people that are stealinge resources from this region, ie the petroleum base products that are from this region. the problem is that these folks will be execute hostages, no doubt, if they feel there will be no negotiations, if they feel that the u.s. government and the british government won't negotiate, they will kill those hostages. this guy is not zarqawi, but in some ways he's worse because he's unpredictable. they're looking for money, if they can't get money, they'll start killing hostages, almost for certain. >> a developing story, again, we will have much more on this as we get more throughout the day. today's tweet of the day on a very different topic comes from congresswoman michelle because. wishing michelle obama a happy birthday. she's an amazing example for women and young girls everywhere. oh, i like it! [ garth ] sven's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! woo-hoo!!! so that's ten security gators, right? put them on my spark card! why settle for less? testing hot tar

reportedly leading the attack, former al qaeda commander, mokhtar belmokhtar, who always before promised retaliation for france's military action in neighboring mali. for days, french fighter jets have pounded islamic militants in mali with american drones providing intelligence. france has also sent hundreds of troops with hundreds more on the way. they will be joined by troops from neighboring african countries. the militants have warned that france's intervention here will come at a very high price. they say that by landing here, they have opened the gates of hell, a warning perhaps not only to france, but to all western interests here in africa. the militants already control northern mali, an area the size of france itself. france wants to stop them from taking the rest of the country. and creating a base for terrorist attacks against the west. and brian, the military action here in mali, the french, the u.s. and others, has triggered the hostage situation in algeria. algerian forces have reportedly surrounded the facility where the hostages have been held. and they're warning they w

responsibility calls itself the signatories of blood brigade, founded by a former afghan jihadist, mokhtar belmokhtar. his group has made tens of millions of dollars, kidnapping westerners and trading them for large ransoms. >> what does that say about their capabilities? >> they're very heavily armed, affiliates all over the place, and supporters in europe and other francophone countries. if that isn't a mix we should be concerned about, i don't know what is. >> reporter: a spokesman called the attack retribution for the conflict in the mali. french military forces have intervened to stop militants from taking over mali and making it a terrorist base. rohit kachroo is the only american network correspondent reporting from mali. >> people here have been flying the french flag to celebrate the military intervention. overwhelmingly, they want the islamists gone, and they welcome the operation to save them from life under an oppressive regime. >> reporter: tonight, france continues to press ahead in mali, bringing in more troops. the hostage drama in algeria is a reminder that islamic extremism knows no

mokhtar belmokhtar.mic maghreb which formally merged with al qaeda in 2006 and took the new name in 2007. he was reportedly stripped of his command by aqim, though i think the circumstances are probably a bit more complex than that and he's still been operating in northern mali and now, of course, back in algeria. >> and he's a one-eyed algerian terrorist and he's got a group, among other things, called the brigade of the masked ones. mokhtar belmokhtar. does he take orders from the number one leader of al qaeda, zawihiri, or are they independently inspired by al qaeda? >> well aqim and belmokhtar in particular has been very careful in public statements before and in interviews to pay hom marriage to al qaeda and be clear that he takes his orders from al qaeda central. the extent to which he does or doesn't is not as clear but he does make a very careful point of establishing that he is part of the broader al qaeda network. and he's -- >> is he -- >> go ahead. >> he's claimed to have contact with al qaed

. >> reporter: the rogue al qaeda leader behind the attack, mokhtar belmokhtar, said in a video madee such attacks should be expected. not he is target number one in a rapidly expanding u.s.-french military operation near his base, where the first american transport planes landed today. brian ross, abc news, new york. >>> and coming up from here in washington, d.c., the powerful voices at the inauguration. we take you behind the scenes in our "instant index" tonight.♪ [ male ♪ o'er the land do you turn an of the free ♪ into a scooter that talks to the cloud? ♪ or turn 30-million artifacts... ♪ into a high-tech masterpiece? ♪ whatever your business challenge, dell has the technology and services to help you solve it. mommy's having a french fry. yes she is, yes she is. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. 100% vegetable juice, with three of your daily vegetable servings in every little bottle. i have the flu... i took theraflu, but i still have this cough. [ male announcer ] truth is theraflu doesn't treat your cough. what? [ male announcer ] it doesn't have a cough suppressa

>> reporter: the rogue al qaeda leader, mokhtar belmokhtar, has now taken credit for the attack according to an african website today. we and al qaeda announced this blessed operation, he was reported to have said. the chairman of the house intelligence committee told abc news, the u.s. knew the al qaeda group was looking for a western target in the area. >> we didn't know for sure it would be this place under those circumstances, but we knew they were trying to find and complete a target against a western target which this clearly was. >> of the ten americans at the plant, seven escaped or were freed. one is confirmed dead. still no word, but growing concern about the fate of two others who were believed to be inside during the final assault, david, by the algerian army. >> brian, thank you. >>> turning now to a troubling headline out of new mexico tonight. a terrible shooting incident. police say a teenage boy about 15 years old, facing murder charges for the deaths of a man, woman, and three children at a rural home near albuquerque. investigators say several weapons were found at the

he's a lieutenant of mokhtar belmokhtar, head of an al qaeda-linked group based in north africa. the aljean state oil company running the plant said the attackers had the entire refinery booby trapped and it would be days before the clearing out process is complete. charlie d'agata, cbs news london. >> axelrod: now to the story about the football star and his online girlfriend who turned out not to exist at all. notre dame linebacker manti te'o has now broken his silence and dean reynolds is in south bend indiana, to bring us up to date. good evening, dean. >> reporter: justifying, jim. well this story is raising more questions by the the day despite the efforts by manti te'o and notre dame to explain what happened. asked by espn last night but without cameras role, whether he was involved in some kind of scam te'o said no never. not ever would i be part of this. a follow-up on whether he was duped at the start but played along at the end was answered, "no." so as this 21-year-old academic all-american explains it, he thought his online girlfriend was real thought it was her he w

mokhtar belmokhtar is now being hunted in a big way by the u.s. and the french. his group issued a statement saying they planned this attack for two months and considered it a big success. as we heard from secretary of defense panetta, and the -- from secretary of state, they will not rest, the u.s. will not rest until they track him down and bring him to justice. >> what do they do about all the splinter cells across africa? how do you track them? >> it's a huge, vast continent, and very few resources for the u.s. as we've seen on this map. we have u.s. assets in italy and djibouti. those two areas are far apart from where the action is. djibouti is approximately 2,800 miles, the difference between new york and san francisco. going after anybody there would be difficult for the u.s. they plan to do it in conjunction with the french who are already in the country. >> brian ross, still on watch tonight, along with martha raddatz, thank you so much. >>> now, we turn to the giant interview everyone was talking about and debating today. oprah winfrey and champion bik

do you now view belmokhtar and aqim have rejoined forces in their involvement of libya's fighters andweapons as secretary clinton said yesterday? can you bring us up to date on your thinking? >> yeah, and benghazi it's no mystery that it's a dangerous situation there and, you know, everybody in that area i think is very concerned that they simply can't provide the security necessary to protect people in those places and i think that's why these countries have made the decision they've made. as far as i know, we have not been asked to participate in moving any people out of benghazi. >> all pick up the rest of the question on who is doing what to do over there. the way to think about the north african, west african is a syndicate of groups who come together episodically when it's convenient to them in order to advance their cause. sometimes it's terrorism, criminal, sometimes trafficking. i'll just name for groups. so it isn't libya, ansar al-sharia, in algeria, ansar al-din, in mali, it's aqim, so there is -- there is the opinion is mokhtar belmokhtar's group, they work together when

but the man believed to be the mastermind is mokhtar belmokhtar. operation. >> it would appear he sent an experience commander unit, really the a-team of his group to go and launch this attack that he outsourced it to them. >> a kman doe unit according to the prime mirm insister including militants from egypt, and other african regions and included algeria in that, wolf. but information on who did what is very sketchy. we hope to learn more in the coming days. >> and once you do, let us know. >> absolutely. >> thank you very much. >>> we're standing by to hear from the speaker of the house, john boehner. he'll be reabling to the president's inaugural address. >>> other news we're following as well, what's really in some of the food that you're eating and buying. why you may not necessarily be able to trust what's on the label. turtle. ♪ my friends are all around me ♪ my friends, they do surround me ♪ ♪ i hope this never ends ♪ and we'll be the best of friends ♪ ♪ all set? all set. [ male announcer ] introducing the reimagined 2013 chevrolet travers

. >> the man claiming responsibility is mokhtar belmokhtar. what do you know about him? >> he has broken away from al qaeda. he broke away in december. but has long standing relations. he is a sal afy. he is very hostile to the west, particularly well-armed. over the last year, he has been buying libyan arms, surface air missiles, other heavy weaponry. he is a particularly dangerous radical guy. >> is he libyan or algerian? >> he is algerian. these are aljeerion based groups. they go back to 1992. the libyans -- the libyan revolution has opened arms they never had access to before. this has been brewing for some time. >> jill, i know defense secretary panetta has made a statement about it today. is it possible the u.s. might take military action? >> they might if they want to fry -- try to save the people held in there hostage. there are two reasons this group is giving for having carried out this act. they say it is retaliation for algeria giving france the ability to fly over algerian territory. bringing as part of this military operation in mali. but the other thing t

>> reporter: the rogue one-tied al qaeda leader, mokhtar belmokhtar has taken responsibility. the chairman of the house intelligence committee tells abc news the u.s. knew al qaeda was looking for a western target in the area. >> we don't know for sure it would be this place under those circumstances but we knew they were trying to find and complete a target against a western target, which this clearly was. >> reporter: of the ten americans, seven escaped or were freed. one confirmed as dead. and still no word but growing concern about the fate of two others who are believed to be inside the plant during the final assault by the algerian army. brian ross, abc news, washington. >> what a grisly scene inside that facility. in fact, david cameron, the prime minister of britain, gave some comments about the threat of global terror in northern africa. and even saying this is a global threat and it will require a global response, which some interpreted to be a nudge to the u.s. to say hey, president obama, we've got to do something here because this threat has not been diminished in

. >> and bob, the man claiming responsibility for this, his name is mokhtar belmokhtar. what do you know about him? >> he has broken away from al qaeda. he broke away in december, but has long-standing relations. he is a salafi. he is particularly well armed. over the last year he has been buying libyan arms, surface-to-air missiles, other heavy weaponry. he is a particularly dangerous radical guy. >> is he libyan? is he algerian? >> he is algerian. these are algerian-based groups. they go back to 1992. they've been around. the algerians have sort of pushed them south. what happened is the libyan revolution has opened up arms for them that they never had access to before. and this has been brewing for some time. >> because the extremists in algeria in the '90s were really brutal, really vicious. it was a really dirty, terrible war. it seemed like the government had been making strides against them. but anderson, you know, there are two reasons that this group apparently is giving for having carried out this act. one is they say it's retaliation for algeria giving france

mokhtar belmokhtar the one responsible for this attack an algerian, gone to afghanistan came back, foughtgeria for a while then moved south as pressure was put on him and now he's obviously making a play back in algeria yah again. >> suarez: so are a lot of the countries across the sahara vulnerable to this activity? >> every single country across the sahara is vulnerable. you talk about algeria peter mentioned that this is in essence an authoritarian government. authoritarian governments by their very nature are brittle governments. they're authoritarian far reason because they don't allow their population to do things because they don't dare allow the population to do things like democratic movements peaceable assembly, things we take for granted in the united states. but every single country if you take mali look at mauritania to the west of mali look to the east of mali you have niger huge uranium deposits in niger fourth largest producer in the world. these are the kinds of things that could happen to each of these areas and they could then spread south into other parts of africa. th

the person that was actually bearing responsibility for this, mokhtar belmokhtar actually made a video month ago saying, attacks are coming, expect it. so in essence, we should have been circling the wagons, expecting something like this to happen. >> all right. well, don and fred, thank you very much. and to don's point, we're going to continue to cover that angle of the story. because among the first things the united states said yesterday, although they won't tell us the number americans involved, they said, it was a terrorist attack, it was organized, and it was pre-planned. so certainly there was some awareness of the preparation that had gone into this in advance. >>> still to come, more and more details emerging about manti te'o's nonexistent girlfriend. he said he was the victim of a sick joke. but does that add up? >>> plus, new york city mayor michael bloomberg reacts to president obama's plan to take on guns. [ indistinct shouting ] [ male announcer ] time and sales data. split-second stats. [ indistinct shouting ] ♪ it's so close to the options floor... [ indistinct shoutin

mokhtar belmokhtar, the e reponsible for this attack an algerian, gone to afghanistan, came back, foughtalgeria for a while then moved south as pressure was put on him and now he's obviously making a play back in algeria yah again. >> suarez: so are a lot of the countries across the sahara vulnerable to this activity? >> every single country across the sahara is vulnerable. you talk about algeria, peter mentioned that this is in essence an authoritarian government. authoritarian governments by their very nature are brittle governments. ty're authoritarian far reason because they don't allow their population to do things because they don't dare allow the population to do things like democratic movements, peaceable assembly, things we take for granted in the united states. but every single country if you take mali, look at mauritania to the west of mali, look to the east of mali you have niger, huge uranium deposits in niger, fourth largest producer in the world. these are the kinds of things that could happen to each of these areas and they could then spread south into other parts of afri

reporter: around 40 armed islamist militants loyal to this al qaeda-connected jihadist, mokhtar belmokhtarostages. >> he made us sleep with a strap around his neck, he had duct tape over his mouth and his hands tied. >> reporter: his brother steven survived. british engineer gary ballo did not. he called his wife and told her he had explosives strapped on his body. security sources say the terrorists may have been trying to take them out of the country to be used as bargaining chips to stop attacks on the militants. inside the plant, the jihadists' agenda to take only nonmuslims hostage was becoming clearer. >> they asked if we were algerian muslims. we said yes. then they said don't worry, we are here to promote islam and to give the usa a lesson about islam. >> reporter: some foreign workers were helped to freedom by algerian workers. >> they said they were going to cut the fence and head into the desert, so they gave us hats and coats to make us look a bit more blending in. we moved into the desert very, very reasonably quickly and then we were picked up by military. >> reporter: by the