Algeria hit by surge in guerrilla violence

[Al-khiyal]

Poster campaign by Algerian army urges citizens to help fight terror

Au moment où les autorités invitent les habitants à s’impliquer dans la lutte antiterroriste:

1500 citoyens revendiquent leurs armes saisies par les Douanes

[Al-khiyal]

The Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC), an Algerian terrorist group that has aligned with al-Qaeda, produced an 8:41 minute video depicting the preparation and culminating bombing on a bus carrying employees of the Halliburton subsidiary in Algeria, Brown & Root-Condor. This video was issued by the GSPC today, Sunday, January 21, 2007. The group had issued a statement on December 11, 2006 claiming responsibility for this attack, which occurred in the city of Bouchaoui, near the capital Algiers, and killed the bus driver and wounded several others, including at least four Britons and one American. Interestingly, the GSPC published an article in the eighth issue of its magazine published a few months before, warning those companies that participate in the “plunder” of the Muslims’ wealth in Algeria.

Opening the video is past statements from al-Qaeda leaders, Usama bin Laden and Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, in which they warn of attacks to be wrought upon those states and supporters who transgressed upon Muslims lands in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Palestine. The inclusion of these individuals and these particular words presents the GSPC as operating within the al-Qaeda network and mission. During the course of the film, the group outlines its strategy in showing the reconnaissance and study of the area of the bombing, manufacture of the explosive and detonating device, and ultimately, the successful attack. Displayed on screen are the results of the operation, claiming that all twenty-five passengers of the bus, most of them American, were killed or injured, and the Brown & Root-Condor company was dissolved on Sunday, January 17, 2007.

Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC) issues video of bombing targeting Halliburton-subsidiary employees in Bouchaoui, Algeria

[Al-khiyal]

An Al Qaeda-linked Algerian militant group posted a video on the Internet yesterday showing what they said was a deadly bomb attack on a bus carrying oil workers in the North African state in December.

The Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) video appeared to show the bus taking an exit on a highway before being hit by a roadside blast. The film seemed to have been shot from a vehicle on the opposite side of the highway.

GSPC had claimed responsibility for the December 10 attack, which killed an Algerian and a Lebanese and injured eight people, including four Britons and an American.

In a textual header on the website, the group said the attack was aimed at US energy firm Halliburton, which owned a stake in the firm that employed the oil workers - Brown Root and Condor.

Condor Engineering, an affiliate of Algerian state energy group Sonatrach, owns a stake in the joint venture.

The tape showed that the militant group used satellite pictures and other advanced technology in planning and carrying out the attack.

It also showed militants building a homemade bomb using a gas cylinder, metal nuggets, a chemical and wireless detonators.

Earlier in January in a web video, GSPC leader Abu Musab Abdul-Wadud called for attacks against the French and their government allies in Algeria.

An Algerian insurgency began in 1992 after the authorities cancelled elections an Islamist party was expected to win.

Now led mainly by the GSPC, the insurgency has only about 500 fighters compared to 30,000 in the 1990s, operates usually in remote mountains and parts of the vast southern desert, and is involved in drug trafficking, kidnapping and extortion.

Group posts Algeria attack video

[Al-khiyal]

One soldier killed, six others wounded in bomb attack on army convoy at Meshta Al Frouda

[Al-khiyal]

Algiers - A roadside bomb exploded under an army vehicle in a remote region of eastern Algeria, killing one soldier and wounding another eight, a news report said on Tuesday.

The report, in the Liberte newspaper, said the soldiers were leaving their quarters in the Jijel region, 360km east of the capital, Algiers, when a homemade bomb exploded on Sunday under their all-terrain vehicle.

Algerian authorities blamed the attack on the Salafist Group of Call and Combat, or the GSPC, the newspaper said. The GSPC is considered the only structured armed insurgency movement remaining in Algeria, which began fighting radical Islamists in 1992.

Large-scale violence in Algeria died down in the late 1990s, but skirmishes have continued in recent months, particularly in GSPC strongholds in the centre and east of the country.

The violence has left an estimated 120 000 dead - civilians, soldiers and Islamic insurgents.

The newspaper said the army has launched a sweep of the area to find those responsible for Sunday's attack.

Algerian soldiers wounded in bombing

[Al-khiyal]

The Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC) issued a statement from its Emir, Abu Musab Abdul Wadud, today, Tuesday, January 23, 2007, calling upon Algerian Muslims to launch a “people’s revolution” and join the jihad with the Mujahideen. The statement comes amidst the El Khalifa Bank scandal trial in Algeria, which involves alleged acts of corruption and use of savings accounts for the business’ expansion. Wadud claims this as evidence of the depravity and corruption rampant by the “traitorous” rulers in the country. For this purpose he cites a parable from the Prophet Muhammad’s Hadith, which is applied to decay being spread amongst the people by despicable shepherds who desire France retaking control over Algeria. The emir then points to the GSPC Mujahideen as the only protector of the Muslims’ being, honor, and wealth.

Abu Musab Abdul Wadud addresses the Algerian Muslim people, stating: “What the country is encountering in-between huge risks requires you to take firm positions, firm decisions, sacrifices and the riding of the danger.” In spite of the scandal, he claims that the Algerian governing regime is unshaken and will not be deterred unless the Muslims awaken from their slumber and join hands with the Mujahideen to restore their dignity.

Abu Musab Abdul Wadud, Emir of the Salafist Group for Call and Combat, calls to Algerian Muslims to revolt against their government and join jihad

[Al-khiyal]

LONDON, England, January 26, 2007 (Reuters) -- Algeria's main Islamist militant group has changed its name to al Qaeda after getting the approval of Osama bin Laden, according to a statement posted on the Internet on Friday.

The move by the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) marked the latest attempt by militants to exploit al Qaeda's international "brand," following the establishment of regional branches in Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

The GSPC, which has led an insurgency against Algeria's secular government, said it was adopting the name Al Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb.

"We had wished to do this from the first day we joined (al Qaeda) but we wanted the permission of Sheikh Osama, may God protect him. This obstacle has now been removed," said the statement, signed by the GSPC and dated January 24.

The authenticity of the statement could not be verified, but it was posted on a main Web site used by Islamists.

The group, which announced in September it had joined al Qaeda, said in the statement that the name change was proof of "the sincerity of the ties between the mujahideen in Algeria and the rest of their brothers in al Qaeda."

Some security analysts believe the GSPC is trying to transform itself from a domestic movement in Algeria, where it has been largely contained, into an international militant force capable of striking in both North Africa and in Europe.

Source calls change public relations move

A European intelligence source said that while the group had renamed itself on paper, it had yet to show if it could remake itself operationally.

"Until now we haven't seen a lot of international activity by the GSPC, so for the time being I would classify it as a PR move. ... They have joined up with a bigger brand," he said.

"It makes sense for both sides. (Al Qaeda) can say we're getting bigger, we have the GSPC on our side. And the GSPC itself, by pushing cooperation with the worldwide jihad, may be able to generate more members and funds."

The United States has long been concerned about the GSPC and is working with Algeria and its neighbours to combat the perceived threat through a programme called the Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Partnership, worth an estimated $600 million over the next five to seven years.

France, the former colonial power in Algeria and a target of Algerian militant attacks in the 1990s, is also worried about any expansion of the GSPC's activity and ambitions.

The group conducted several attacks in Algeria late last year, including the bombing of a bus carrying foreign oil workers on December 10. Two people were killed in the attack, the first on expatriates in Algeria for years.

Algeria's neighbors also face counterterrorism tests, as shown by recent militant arrests in Morocco and rare gunbattles in Tunisia in which security forces shot dead 14 Islamist radicals and arrested 15.

The government said this month the militants were carrying details of foreign diplomats and embassies.

Algeria's insurgency began in 1992 when authorities cancelled elections an Islamist party was expected to win.

Now mainly led by the GSPC, the insurgency is estimated to have about 500 fighters compared to 30,000 in the 1990s. It operates usually in remote mountains and parts of the vast southern desert, and is involved in drug trafficking, kidnapping and extortion.

Algerian militants now 'al Qaeda,' with bin Laden's OK