Posted on 09/09/2001 1:30:40 PM PDT by rebdov
ALGIERS, Sept. 9 — Suspected Islamist rebels attacked a funeral in western Algeria, killing 11 people, the official APS news agency reported on Sunday.
The attack took place at around 9:00 p.m. (2000 GMT) on Saturday and was carried out by an armed group, APS said in a brief statement.
Ten people were killed initially, but the toll reached 11 on Sunday with the death of an elderly man who had been wounded.
Several others were wounded, at least three seriously.
Interior Minister Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni visited the area on Sunday to present his condolences to the victims' relatives. ''Those who attacked women in a funeral ceremony should surrender or commit suicide,'' the minister was quoted by APS as saying.
Police were searching for the criminals.
Witnesses told Reuters by telephone that at least six gunmen in civilian clothes rushed into the family home in which the funeral was being held on Saturday night and gunned down the mourners before disappearing into the darkness.
Arzew, where the attacked took place, is about 390 km (240 miles) west of Algiers, near oil refining and export facilities.
The state-run news agency, quoting security services, blamed the killing on ''terrorists,'' a word Algerian officials use to describe Muslim insurgents who have been trying to overthrow the military-backed government for nearly 10 years.
Suspected Algerian Islamic rebels killed nine people last week in the resort area of Zeralda, about 30 km (18 miles) west of Algiers.
More than 100,000 people were killed and thousands went missing in a cycle of violence and revenge that followed the army's cancellation in 1992 of a general election that Muslim fundamentalists were poised to win.
Rebel attacks have continued to unsettle the north African state, despite an amnesty granted by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in 1999 to rebels including members of such radical factions as the Islamic Armed Groups (GIA) and Daawa Wal Jihad (Appeal and Struggle), who laid down their arms.
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Also notice that in 9 years of the slaughter, they have averaged 11,000 butchered a year. In Israel not even a thousand have been killed. And the overwhelming majority of the arab Palestinians killed were war casualties; i.e. either they blew themselves up, or they were killed in battle with the Jewish Palestinians. Imagine if the Jews though acting defensively had killed 11,000 Arab Palestinians? The Arabs are calling the Jews Nazis guilty of a holocaust for less than 1,000, but in Algeria they are just spreading Islamic peace.
Look carefully folks. Lookwhat is happening in Nigeria, Algeria, Chechnya, Macedonia, Phillipines, Afghanistan, etc. Getting the message? Your life may depend on it.
Plus Algeria sells them natural gas so why jeopardize that relationship.
Iran and Iraq also are serious players. During their war 1,000,000 Muslims and Arabs killed off. Get extra points for using poison gas (Iraq) and sending 12 year olds to the front (Iran)
Oh, I've gotten the message. Loud and clear. I hope that others get the message too, while there is still time...because if Israel falls, the next target will be Europe. And after that, the US.
Hard to believe their ancestors ruled much of the civilized world and had maintained high standards of culture and learning. Then again, parts of The Bronx were once nice, I hear.
HEY!!!!!!
They butchered 11 people at a FUNERAL!!! THEY ARE TERRORISTS!!!
Is it any wonder the civilized world does not believe your claims of how "peaceful" Islam is?
Maybe YOU are, but in Islamic nations, butchery is the rule.
Would YOU live in Algeria, or in Kabul under the Taliban?
I am just sick of the "Islam is peaceful" amen corner ignoring the butchery going on in the name of Allah from the Philippines to Nigeria.
If these tens of thousands of Jihad killers in over a dozen nations do not in any way represent Islam, why do no internationally known Islamic groups condemn ALL of these killings outright, with no hedging and rationalization?
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