Posted on 10/01/2005 6:53:41 PM PDT by rdb3
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Algerian Islamic rebels reject amnesty: statement
Sat Oct 1, 2005 10:25 AM ET
By Paul de Bendern
ALGIERS (Reuters) - An Internet statement attributed to Algeria's largest outlawed Islamic militant group, aligned with al Qaeda, said it opposed an amnesty in exchange for laying down its arms and would continue its "Jihad," or holy war.
In a September 29 referendum, Algerians approved a government offer of partial amnesty for rebels still fighting for a purist Islamic state, in a bid to end more than a decade of civil war in which more than 150,000 people have died, mostly civilians.
"This vote is a waste of time. Algeria is not in need of a charter for peace and national reconciliation, but in need of a charter for Islam," said the statement on an Islamist Web site, dated September 27 and attributed to the leader of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC).
It was the first time the GSPC had apparently commented on the controversial amnesty project, but the statement's authenticity could not be immediately verified.
The GSPC is on the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations and has recently expanded its activities to neighboring countries.
"The Jihad will go on ... we have promised God to continue the Jihad and the combat," said Abdelmalek Droukdel, also known as Abou Mossab Abdelouadoud.
The conflict began after the army in 1992 canceled the second round of Muslim Algeria's first multi-party legislative election, which the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) was on course to win. The authorities feared an Iranian-style revolution.
Violence has sharply fallen in recent years, although hundreds of soldiers and civilians are still killed each year.
The authorities estimate there are around 1,000 rebels active, although only a few hundred still fight the security forces. Most belong to the GSPC, founded in 1998.
At its height in the mid-1990s, up to 25,000 Islamists from various movements were involved in the nationwide insurgency. Many have since accepted amnesties, been captured or killed.
SURRENDER EXPECTED
"There will be no peace and no reconciliation as long as Islam is not taken into consideration," said Droukdel, who also praised Osama bin Laden and his deputy in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
The GSPC, which has suffered serious military defeats over the past year, has in the past issued statements warning its members not to surrender.
Madani Mezrag, leader of another armed group who surrendered with thousands of his men in the late 1990s, has told Reuters he expected most rebels to come down from the mountains. Some diehard leaders are expected to hold out.
The war was marked by rebel atrocities including mass beheadings and alleged crimes by government security forces, pitting neighbor against neighbor. It isolated the oil-producing state from the rest of the world.
The amnesty will pardon hundreds of militants in prison, on the run or still fighting and drop other legal proceedings. Those involved in massacres are excluded.
The 1992 state of emergency law, giving the security forces extra powers to fight militants, will remain in force.
"A minority of terrorists will keep fighting. They are rich from illegal activities and are increasingly turning to international terrorism, which has nothing to do with Algeria," a security source, who asked to remain anonymous, told Reuters.
(Additional reporting by Hamid Ould Ahmed in Algiers)
If you want a Google GMail account, FReepmail me.
They're going fast!
The Islamics aren't having fun unless rivers of blood are flowing. Even then they complain and complain and complain (Bob Roberts)
Good, Muslims continue killing Muslims.
If you want a Google GMail account, FReepmail me.
They're going fast!
Thanks but, I don't have an index on this.
I'm affiliated with the GGG files, lol.
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