Page 73 - Encyclopedia Of Terrorism

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46———Armed Islamic Group

Algerian militants who were not directly implicated in
ARMED ISLAMIC GROUP murder. Thousands of fighters surrendered their

aka Groupement Islamique Arme, AIG, Al-Jama’ah weapons, but violence continued to wrack the country.
al-Islamiyah al-Musallah GIA leader Antar Zouabri called on GIA members to
reject the offer of amnesty.
The Salafi Group for Call and Combat (GSPC), a
The Armed Islamic Group (GIA) is an extremist
less extreme splinter faction of GIA, eclipsed its
Islamic organization bent on overthrowing Algeria’s
parent organization around 1998. A recent U.S. State
military-backed regime and creating an Islamic state.
Department assessment called the GSPC the most
The Algerian government has accused Iran and Sudan
effective remaining armed group inside Algeria. The
of supporting the GIA and other Algerian extremist
GSPC has stated that it targets the military, not civil-
groups.
ians. Press reports have linked both the GSPC and
The GIA began a terror campaign in 1992 after the
GIA with Saudi Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Algerian Army declared a state of emergency and
In February 2002, Algerian security forces
blocked an election that the Islamic Salvation Front,
assaulted a GIA hideout and killed Zouabri. Algerian
Algeria’s largest opposition party, appeared certain to
authorities had declared Zouabri dead many times
win. More than 100,000 people have been killed in the
before; however, this report appears to be accurate.
civil conflict that followed.
The GIA (the French acronym for Groupement
Further Reading
Islamique Arme) has carried out scores of attacks against
civilians—targeting journalists, foreign residents, and Touati, Abdelmalek. “Algerian Terrorist Reported Slain;
government workers. Sometimes the GIA wiped out Leader of Radical Islamic Group Was Nation’s ‘Most
entire villages during its campaign of civilian massacres. Wanted.’” Washington Post, February 10, 2002.
U.S. State Department. “Appendix B: Background
The group uses tactics such as assassinations and car
Information on Terrorist Groups.” Patterns of Global
bombings and is known for kidnapping victims and slit-
Terrorism—2000. Released by the Office of the
ting their throats. However, international analysts have
Coordinator for Counterterrorism. http://www.state.gov/
cautioned that the GIA may have been manipulated and
s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/2000/2450.htm, April 30, 2001.
infiltrated by the Algerian military and that some attacks
attributed to the group may not be its responsibility.
In 1993, the GIA announced a campaign against Armed Revolutionary Nuclei. See
foreigners living in Algeria. Group operatives have
since killed more than 100 foreign nationals—both ORDINE NUOVO.
men and women. In December 1994, GIA members
hijacked an Air France flight to Algiers. Two years
later, GIA operatives claimed responsibility for a ARMENIAN SECRET ARMY FOR
wave of bombings in Paris and Lyons, France, that THE LIBERATION OF ARMENIA
killed 12 and wounded more than 200. Several GIA
members were later convicted in France of the
attacks. The Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of
During the spring of 1996, seven monks were kid- Armenia (ASALA) was a terrorist group formed in
napped from the Our Lady of the Atlas monastery 1975 to force Turkey to admit its guilt for the
south of Algiers. More than two months later, Armenian genocide of 1915.
Moroccan radio broadcast a communiqué said to be In 1915, the government of what is now Turkey
from the GIA: “We have cut the throats of the seven engaged in a deliberate campaign to expel the Christian
monks.” Later press reports noted evidence that the Armenian minority from their homes; this campaign
Algerian military may have been involved—perhaps resulted in an Armenian diaspora that continues to this
in an attempt to sabotage negotiations between the day. The current Turkish government insists that this
French government and Islamic militants. campaign was not a genocide, while Armenians con-
When President Abdel Aziz Bouteflika came to tend that 1.5 million of their compatriots were massa-
power in Algeria in 1999, he offered an amnesty to cred. ASALA’s stated goals are to force the Turkish