The vast majority of comment on the role of political Islam in North Africa focuses on the activities of extremist groups there, particularly with respect to Libya, the Sahara and the Sahel. There is, however, another reality which may, in the final analysis, have greater significance for the future of the region. This is the growth of quietist Salafism and its plans for the reconditioning of society in its own austere image, particularly in Libya and, to a lesser extent, Algeria. This is especially the case with the role of one particular movement - Madkhalism or the Madakhala, perhaps Saudi Arabia's own Trojan Horse in the region.
