[5] Kheirou was arrested again on September 3, 2008, in Kita, Mali, but was released in April 2009 along with Idris Ould Mohamed Lemine in a prison exchange with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

[4][6] He was released on the behest of Canada for the Canadian diplomats Robert Fowler and Louis Gay, according to Franco-Beninese journalist Serge Daniel.

[5] Kheirou joined AQIM in 2009, supplying Mokhtar Belmokhtar's katiba in northern Mali along with making explosives.

[7] During his time in AQIM, Kheirou criticized the leadership of Abdelmalek Droukdel and accused the group of being dominated by Algerians and an inequitable distribution of money gathered from hostage-taking and trafficking.

[7] In late 2011, he founded the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa and established connection with Boko Haram.