Algeria hit by surge in guerrilla violence

[Al-khiyal]

LARBAA, Algeria: Algeria’s top Islamist opposition politician condemned a rebel bombing as an attempt to torpedo his fledgling rapprochement with the government and said he backed the army in trying to crush the revolt.

Rabah Kebir’s remarks in support of the army are the first by any Islamist leader since Africa’s second largest country descended into violence in 1992 following aborted elections that Kebir’s party was poised to win.

"What happened was a terrorist act that I condemn and I believe it was a reaction to the new political dynamic since our return to the country," Kebir, who returned from 14 years in exile in September, said in an interview.

"We strongly support operations by the military and security forces to ensure security for Algerians. Violence is no longer justified. The army has to protect citizens and we obviously support its operations."

Three people were killed and 24 wounded in near-simultaneous truck bomb attacks on two police stations in the region of the capital Algiers at midnight on Sunday in what witnesses called the most elaborate assault by Islamist rebels in several years.

The blasts shocked Algerians because clashes between Islamist guerrillas and security forces normally take place in isolated rural areas of the Mediterranean country of 33mn.

Commentators said the blasts were almost certainly carried out by the main rebel group, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which has refused peace overtures from the government and announced in September it had joined Al Qaeda.

Kebir said people who had an interest in prolonging political violence opposed attempts he has made since his return to support the government’s national reconciliation policy.

"(My return) made those who have been benefiting from the crisis unable to know what to do to preserve their interests," he said, without identifying the people he was talking about.

"They will fail in their isolated attempt. The enemies of national reconciliation are trying to stop this process but they will not succeed."

Algerian commentators say many leaders of the various Islamic armed groups that have fought the army since 1992 have grown rich through land grabs, extortion, crime and smuggling.

Kebir compared the bombers’ actions to the attacks by the underground Secret Armed Organisation (OAS) of French settlers who used violence in 1961 and 1962 in a failed last-ditch bid to prevent Algeria’s independence from France.

"For our part we will try to push national reconciliation forward and as you know we have held several meetings with our militants. I think the state must play its role in ensuring security and has also to affirm its attachment to national reconciliation and define the red lines that nobody can cross."

With his return Kebir, in his late 40s, became the first leader of the banned Islamic Salvation Front to end his self-imposed exile since its armed wing began a revolt in 1992

Algeria bombings ‘bid to stop rapprochement’

[Al-khiyal]

Two days after explosions rocked Algiers, the government announced that up to 800 gunmen have been killed, seized or surrendered to the authorities in a year.

Interior Minister Noureddine Yazid Zarhouni said Wednesday on the occasion of 52nd anniversary of the Algerian revolution against French colonization, that the recent bombings "were isolated terrorist operations that would not affect the reconciliation process."

He said that since Algerians approved President Aziz Boutefliqa's pact for peace and national reconciliation in a nationwide referendum in September 2005, "some 800 armed men have been either killed, captured or turned themselves to the authorities."

The explosions which killed three civilians and injured 20 in an eastern suburb of Algiers were claimed by the Salafi Group for Daawa (call) and Fighting, which had rejected the reconciliation pact.

"The strength of armed groups has been largely weakened," Zarhouni said, noting that the general amnesty granted under the national reconciliation pact does not cover rapists and bombers of public places.

"These people are actually carrying out the latest operations and crimes because they know they are excluded from the amnesty," he added.

Zarhouni pointed out that extremist Islamists from the banned Islamic Salvation Front who were involved in armed action during the decade-long civil strife in Algeria are banned from political action.

"The reconciliation pact states clearly that those who were behind the national tragedy have no right to engage in political activities," Zarhouni said.

The government believes that some 500 to 750 militants, mostly from the Salafi Group for Daawa and Fighting, are still hiding in rugged mountains in remote areas.

Many militants pacified in a year in Algeria

[Al-khiyal]

The first insurgent attacks on Algerian police stations in close to five years have raised fears as President Abdelaziz Bouteflika seeks the full cessation of a devastating civil war that claimed up to 200,000 lives in the 1990s.

Three civilians died and 24 people were wounded in apparently synchronized attacks on police stations in Dergana, an eastern neighborhood of Algiers, and the town of Reghaia, 30 kilometers east of the capital at midnight on Sunday.

Algeria has suffered from Islamic insurgent violence since the secular government's decision to cancel a second round of parliamentary elections set for early 1992 after it became clear that the pro-theocracy Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) would win a landslide victory. The militancy had been largely crushed by the late 1990s.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attacks, but most observers believe that the largest remaining insurgent movement, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), was behind the assaults.

The GSPC has rejected a government offer of amnesty with leader Abou Mossab Abdelouadoud pledging in a 27 September 2005 internet posting that "The jihad will go on [...] we have promised God to continue the jihad and the combat."

There is no accurate information on the strength of the GSPC, with estimates varying from several hundred to 4,000.

The level of sophistication displayed in this week's strikes has not been seen in several years of low-intensity conflict between the GSPC and government forces, which has largely been confined to rural areas.

The attacks raise concerns that September's announcement of a "blessed union" between al-Qaida and the GSPC by al-Qaida deputy-leader Ayman al-Zawahiri may have led to the sharing of knowledge or an expansion of links between the groups.

Algeria is seeking to expand security cooperation with neighbors Mali and Niger in an effort to crack down on cross-border criminality and combat GSPC elements, which have operated recently in five regional states.

The US has also been involved in providing resources and counter-terrorism training to the Algerian military and other local armies in an effort to weed out the GSPC.

An expert on the Algerian insurgency, Lies Boukraa, told Reuters that army pressure had succeeded in "shattering" insurgent organizations into "microgroups," effectively depriving the military of accurate intelligence information. Boukraa added that he expected "an intensification of terrorist attacks in the short term."

While Sunday's attacks do not signal the short-term re-emergence of a radical Islamic threat to the Algerian government, they will create unease in European countries that a GSPC recovery could presage attacks similar to the 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings.

Spanish police raids in November and December 2005 uncovered what an arresting officer described as hierarchical, "perfectly structured" GSPC support networks.

Following his re-election in 2004, President Bouteflika announced a new initiative designed to boost the National Reconciliation Plan, including an effective blanket pardon for military personnel and a six-month amnesty for insurgents willing to lay down their weapons.

With the backing of nationalist and Islamic political parties, the plan won a 97.4 percent support in a September 2005 public referendum.

Critics of the plan allege that it allows armed forces personnel responsible for 6,146 recorded disappearances during the war to escape justice.

In a sign of thawing relations between the secular government and Islamic opponents, Algeria's most prominent Islamic leader, Rabah Kebir, denounced Sunday's attacks and expressed his backing for ongoing military operations against extremists.

Last September, Kebir became the first FIS leader to return from exile. The FIS is still banned and a state of emergency remains in place.

Returning Islamic leaders have sought to promote a more moderate image, emphasizing their commitment to pluralist democracy in an effort to address the concerns of secular Algerians and the military that their participation in national politics could again raise the specter of theocratic rule.

Bouteflika recently floated the idea of a public referendum on a plan to greatly extend the powers of the presidency and overturn the current two-term limit on the office.

The proposed amendment underlines the limited nature of democratic reform in Algeria, where the president, with the support of the army, dominates political life.

With Algeria looking to promote economic development and diplomatic ties through strengthened relations with the US, France, Spain and the UK, these countries have the opportunity to foster further civil and democratic reforms.

There are signs that this is already occurring with British Prime Minster Tony Blair signing four cooperation agreements with Bouteflika on 11 July on judicial, penal, deportation and extradition issues. The agreements included a pledge that 15 alleged Algerian militants held by Britain would not be mistreated if returned to their homeland.

The rejection of autocratic tendencies and a staged incorporation of proscribed Islamic movements in governance processes, though not without risks, are crucial to the future stability of the country.

A failure to match rapprochement with political integration threatens the revival of radical religious sentiment and risks the security of Algeria and Western Europe.

Algerian attacks underline need for reform

[Al-khiyal]

Algiers - Three people, including two soldiers, were killed, and another was injured in incidents attributed to armed Islamist groups, press reports said on Thursday.

An exploding bomb killed the soldiers as they patrolled a wooded area near the northeastern city of Skikda, and another seriously wounded a civilian near Boumerdes, about 50km from the capital, the reports said.

In addition, a "dangerous" Islamist was shot dead in a clash with security forces at Menaceur, near Tipaza, 70km west of Algiers.

The attacks have been blamed on the radical Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which was also implicated in a truck bomb attack on two Algiers police stations Monday that killed one person and injured 14 others.

Despite the violence, the Algerian government said Wednesday that the country has seen a sharp fall in the number of active armed Islamists, a year after a peace and reconciliation charter was approved.

"From September 2005 until today, the number of people (the armed groups) have lost because of imprisonment, death or a change of heart, is 750 to 800," Interior Minister Yazid Zerhouni told the country's APS news agency.

Passed in a September 2005 referendum, the measure offers amnesty to armed Islamists who have not committed so-called blood crimes over a six-month period.

Bombings, gunbattle leave three more dead

[Al-khiyal]

Algiers' Police Chief Ali Tounsi said Wednesday (November 1st) that police have tightened security measures in the capital after two simultaneous bomb blasts killed three people and wounded 24 others on Monday (October 30th) in the eastern outskirts of the city. The attacks were attributed to the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat. Reportedly, police have increased patrols around police stations, blocked access to the police central security head office and set up several additional checkpoints.

In a separate statement to a local radio station, Interior Minister Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni rejected claims the attacks would destabilise the country and mark the start of a new terror campaign. He asserted they were isolated acts and would not harm government efforts to promote national reconciliation. The minister stressed the amnesty offer for all rebels that want to voluntarily surrender arms is still valid, but asserted the bombing perpetrators would not receive amnesty and will be prosecuted.

Algeria tightens security measures after Monday bomb blasts

[Al-khiyal]

Security strengthened in Constantine

[Al-khiyal]

Tuareg rebels in Mali's northern desert vowed on Thursday to chase an al Qaeda-linked militant group off their territory and said they were seeking support from neighbouring Algeria to help do so.

The Algerian militant movement, Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which has pledged allegiance to al Qaeda, is believed to be recruiting members around West Africa and training them in mobile camps in the Sahara.

As it spread its operations from Algeria into northern Mali, the GSPC - listed by Washington as a terrorist organisation - has come into contact with Tuareg nomads who have controlled the Sahara's ancient trading routes for generations.

The turban-clad Tuareg, who themselves fought insurgencies against black African-dominated governments in Mali and Niger, rely heavily on smuggling and banditry for their survival and fear the GSPC will bring them unwanted state attention.

"We are obliged to attack them," said Eglasse Ag Idar, a spokesman for Tuareg rebel group Democratic Alliance for Change, which staged a revolt in the Malian town of Kidal in May.

"We can't put things off any longer. We can't negotiate with them any more on their presence in our zone. All that is over. ... We are at war," he told Reuters by satellite phone.

Tuareg fighters clashed with the GSPC near the Algerian border in September killing a senior commander close to Mokhtar Belmokhtar, their leader in the southern Sahara who is viewed by U.S. military experts as a serious regional security threat.

The militant group responded with a revenge attack last week, ambushing Tuareg rebels near the village of Arouan, some 150 km (95 miles) from Kidal, and killing nine of them.

"Neither side is just going to fold up and walk away. The Tuaregs have the advantage of home turf ... but the GSPC has a long history of black market activity, running guns, they're not exactly a pushover," said a senior U.S. military official.

The Tuareg rebel group's war footing against the GSPC gives them a rare common cause both with the Malian government and with Washington, which has been training armies around West Africa to combat such militant organisations.

But they remain outlaws, ruling out a military alliance with the Malian army let alone with the U.S. Special Forces which have been carrying out training in the country.

"It is very tricky because they are a non-state actor ... it puts the Malian government between a rock and a hard place," said the official from U.S. European Command (EUCOM), the headquarters for U.S. operations in most of sub-Saharan Africa.

"But we are encouraged by the fact that the Tuaregs are taking steps to address the GSPC problem in their own backyard ... there is an alignment of common interest here."

Algeria has in the past rallied behind the Tuareg cause, helping to broker peace deals with the Malian government, and Ag Idar said the Tuaregs would meet with Algerian military and political officials in the coming days to ask for support.

"Our alliance has to have partners ... we need Algerian help, Algerian support," he said.

Algeria had an important motive in helping the Tuaregs, the U.S. official said, because the GSPC were using their Malian network to smuggle arms and supplies towards Algiers, where near-simultaneous truck bomb attacks on two police stations killed three people on Monday.

"If you can cut off that flow and make northern Mali an inhospitable place then you've also helped shut off the capabilities of the remaining GSPC up in northern Algeria," the U.S. official said.

"For that, I'm sure, the Algerian government would be quite grateful."

Mali desert nomads pledge to battle GSPC