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| North Africa |
| 16 GIA admit to Algiers attacks... |
| 2002-08-10 |
| Members of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) arrested by security forces admitted to carrying out attacks in the Algiers area in which more than 100 people died in recent weeks. Members of the 16-man group made their admissions in a documentary film shown by the Algerian information ministry. The cell was smashed this month following revelations by an extremist who had turned state witness. One gang member was quoted as saying orders to the cell had come directly from GIA chief Rachid Abou Tourab, who had allegedly ordered them to kill "without exception". "I mean, what else is there to do in Algiers on a Saturday night?" In the worst incident, a bomb exploded on July 5, Algeria's independence day, in a market place at Larbaa, causing 38 deaths and dozens of casualties. The choice of Algiers region for the campaign had been intended to sow terror and anxiety among the population and create a new climate of insecurity, according to admissions by the captured extremists. Extremists had likewise admitted to being behind a bomb explosion on May 15 in a market place at Tazmalt in Kabylie, east of Algiers, causing four deaths and 17 injuries. Rachid Abou Tourab had also wished to create confusion in Kabylie, the centre of unrest among Algeria's Berber ethnic minority, and so escalate hostility between Berbers and the rest of Algeria, one extremist was quoted as saying. Tourab took over as GIA chief from Antar Zouabri, killed by government forces last February. He swore to continue his predecessor's radical policies, but the press reported on July 30 that he had died in a government security operation at Tamesguida, south of Algiers. The death has never been officially confirmed. That lack of official confirmation is a bad sign. It implies it was just somebody who looked like him... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |