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| Africa: North |
| 300 GSPC ready to surrender |
| 2005-10-04 |
| Some 300 Algerian Salafite militants have indicated via their families that they wish to surrender and accept the government's proposed amnesty - endorsed overwhelmingly in last Thursday's referendum, unnamed sources have told the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat. Hassan Hattab, founder of the feared Armed Islamic Group (GIA) has been encouraging guerrillas still hiding out in the Algerian mountains to give up the armed struggle, al-Hayat reported. The government estimates there are currently some 1,000 militants still waging guerrilla warfare in Algeria Hattab is the GSPC, not the GIA founder. I guess he's back to being alive again ... Hattab gave up guerrilla warfare a few years ago, and has distanced himself from the attacks of the other main Algerian Islamic terror formation - the Armed Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) - which is responsible for most of the attacks that continued to be carried out in Algeria, mainly against the military. The GSPC has rejected the amnesty and vowed to continue its Jihad, according to an Internet statement. Hattab was more or less forced out of the GSPC leadership by the late, unmourned Nabil Sahraoui and his al-Qaeda cohorts. It seems he's been flipped since, given there aren't all that other options for him these days. In the run-up to the referendum, Hattab cast himself in the role of peacemaker, seeking to persuade die-hard guerillas to turn themselves in, the anonymous al-Hayat sources said. Although 10 GSPC members surrendered in Khemis and Meliana last Thursday evening, abou 100 kilometres west of Algiers, on Sunday militants kiled three civilians, according to national newspaper reports. The Algerian opposition has challenged the government's official 97 percent 'Yes' result, its allegations of an 80 percent turnout in the referendum, and "the most complete transparency of the vote" proclaimed by interior minister Noureddine Yazid Zerhounii. Said Sadi, president of the Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD) party described the referendum as "laughable" and said the government had inflated the actual turnout four-fold. The plebiscite was "a farce from start to finish" and a "totalitarian tidal wave" Le Monde quoted Socialist Forces Front (FFS) party secretary Ali Laskri as saying. Provided they were not involved in rape or mass killings, the so called "charter for peace and national reconciliation" grants a pardon to Islamic militants who rose up against the army-backed regime in 1992, after it cancelled elections that the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) was poised to win. It bans top Islamists from politics, a move analysts say was intended to ensure the support of Algeria's powerful army. The charter also praises the army for its role in protecting state institutions during the civil war. Besides the Algerian opposition, human rights groups are critical of the proposed amnesty however. They claim it brushes atrocities committed by suspected Islamist militants - and also by Algerian security forces - under the carpet. They also fear Algeria's president Abdelaziz Bouteflike will use the referendum win to amend the constitution and obtain an unprecedented third term of office. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |