Page 72 - Encyclopedia Of Terrorism

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Further Reading As civil order in Algeria continued to disintegrate,
the Islamic opposition splintered into a confusing
Abukhalil, Asad. “Arab Israeli Conflict.” In The Middle
East. 9th ed. Edited by Robin Surrat. Washington, DC: array of groups. The Armed Islamic Front is generally
Congressional Quarterly, 2000. considered to be the same group as the Jihad Armed
Aburish, Said K. Arafat: From Defender to Dictator. Islamic Front or Armed Islamic Front for the Jihad.
New York: Bloomsbury, 1998. The international press also sometimes refers to the
Gowers, Andrew. Behind the Myth; Arafat—The Biography. Armed Islamic Front with the Islamic Salvation Front
London: Virgin, 1994. party’s acronym FIS. The Front, said to be slightly
Hart, Alan. Arafat, a Political Biography. London: more moderate than the radical and better-known
Sidgwick & Jackson, 1994. Armed Islamic Group (GIA), gained a reputation for
Kiernan, Thomas. Arafat, the Man and the Myth. targeting intellectuals and public figures.
New York: Norton, 1976. Most of the massacres and car bombings in Algeria’s
Mishal, Shaul. The PLO Under Arafat: Between Gun and bloody conflict have been attributed to GIA, the most
Olive Branch. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, extreme Islamic organization. GIA has become known
1986.
Rubinstein, Danny. The Mystery of Arafat. South Royalton, for kidnapping victims and slitting their throats.
VT: Steerforth, 1995. However, international analysts have raised the possibil-
Sontag, Deborah. “The Palestinian Conversation.” ity of Algerian military infiltration of such groups, thus
New York Times Magazine, February 3, 2002. the military may be responsible for many of the deaths.
“Talking With the PLO; The P.L.O.: From Birth Through When a deadly car bomb exploded at the press head-
Terrorism to Dialogue With the U.S.” New York Times, quarters in the capital city of Algiers on February 11,
December 16, 1988. 1996, killing 21 including two journalists and a chief
Wallach, Janet, and John Wallach. Arafat: In the Eyes of the editor of Soir d’Algerie, authorities at first suspected
Beholder. Rev. and updated ed. Secaucus, NJ: Carol the GIA; however, the Armed Islamic Front was later
Publishing Group, 1997.
shown to be the perpetrator.
In March 1997, Algerian security forces killed
Armed Islamic Front leader Abdelkadur Seddouki.
Armed Forces of National Liberation. During the same week, security forces assassinated
See FALN. prominent GIA member Yihad Riane in his apartment.
The international press reported that the killings were
part of a government campaign to crack down on
militants before local elections.
In September 1997, the Armed Islamic Front
ARMED ISLAMIC FRONT publicly urged the Islamic militants to honor a truce

aka Jihad Armed Islamic Front, Armed Islamic proposed by the government. However, according to
Front for the Jihad press reports, during the very weekend that the Front
called for peace, members of the more extreme GIA
killed at least 30 civilians.
The Armed Islamic Front is the military wing of Abdel Aziz Bouteflika became president of Algeria
Algeria’s largest opposition party, the Islamic in 1999 and offered an amnesty to Algerian militants
Salvation Front (FIS). In January 1992, the Algerian not directly implicated in rape or murder. Thousands
military cancelled a second round of elections that the of fighters, including many Armed Islamic Front
banned FIS was likely to win; in response the Front members, laid down their weapons.
began a campaign of terror.
See also ARMED ISLAMIC GROUP
Members of the Armed Islamic Front and other
Islamic militant groups first carried out bombings and Further Reading
killings targeting government institutions and security
Bowker, Hilary. “No End in Site to Algerian Conflict; Expert
forces. However, the violence soon spilled over into
Gives Insight” (transcript) CNN Worldview, September
attacks on civilians, foreigners, journalists, and intel- 29, 1997.
lectuals. More than 100,000 people have been killed Huband, Mark. Warriors of the Prophet: The Struggle for
in the past decade. Islam. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1998.