Faceless terror

Faceless terror
Militant groups make a come back in Algeria, reports Nosreddine
Qassem from Algiers
http://weekly. ahram.org. eg/2008/912/ re5.htm

Since the beginning of this year, Algerian terrorists have changed
their tactics, focussing more and more on suicide attacks. August
was particularly bloody, with four suicide bombings in the eastern
province of Kabylia, now dubbed the deadly triangle. In other acts
of violence the commander of the military sector in Jejil (400km
east of Algiers) was assassinated and 11 security men were killed in
Skikda (500km east of Algiers), including a lieutenant colonel.

The Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (SGPC) claimed
responsibility for the attacks in an audio recording broadcast by Al-
Jazeera. The group said that the attacks were in retaliation for the
killing of its members in Beni Douala, near Tizi Ouzou. The group
threatened to respond to any further attacks against its members but
reassured civilians that they are not a target of its operations.

The success of the armed groups in carrying out operations against
military targets -- police station in Tizi Ouzou, a police academy
in Les Issers, and the military sector headquarters in Bouira -- has
shaken the country. Now many question the efficacy of the
government's response to the current wave of violence which is very
different in style from the armed struggle of the 1990s. Instead of
choosing soft targets and remote areas today's militants seem
determined to take on the state.

So far the authorities refuse to even speak about Al-Qaeda in the
Islamic Maghreb. The official story is that these operations are the
parting shots of a dying breed of armed groups.

The suicide attacks demonstrate divisions within armed groups,
claimed Interior Minister Yazid Zerhouni. A government statement
issued after the bombings called on the public to remain vigilant
and vowed to continue fighting the militants. The government has
vowed to push forward with its national reconciliation programme
despite the bombings.

Algerian Labour Party leader Louisa Hanoun believes that the recent
acts of violence are designed to change the country's political
scene. When the Americans were busy setting up their military
command for Africa (AFRICOMB), Hanoun accused foreign hands of
masterminding the violence. When bombings took place after a series
of promising government economic measures, Hanoun suggested that
an "economic mafia" was at work.

The Islamic parties, including Al-Nahda, believe that the militants
are trying to disrupt efforts at national reconciliation. The best
way to fight terror is to eliminate social tensions, end corruption
and generally help the poor, say moderate Islamists.

Khaled Zeyari is a former national security officer with
considerable experience in fighting Islamist groups. He is not
surprised by the recent escalation, arguing that the infrastructure
of the SGPC remains intact. National reconciliation efforts may have
taken the wind from the militants' sails but it has not brought them
to heel, he says.

The militants are now trying to neutralise the public. By targeting
the security forces, they are signalling that their quarrel is
mainly with the government. Although most of the victims of the
recent bombings were civilians, the SGPC still maintains that it is
not targeting them. Zeyari lamented what he sees as the inexperience
of the security personnel. Security forces, he says, are using
antiquated tactics and have not kept up with the militants in terms
of training and intelligence gathering.

What makes the bombings particularly worrying is that the SGPC
doesn't seem to be consistent about what it is trying to do. At
times it rails against the "apostate" regime. Then it says it wants
a caliphate in Mauritania. Then it denounces foreign influence and
pledges to free the land of Islam from "infidels". No one knows for
sure what the violence is all about.

What is clear, however, is that the SGPC is doing all it can to
imitate Al-Qaeda, down to suicide attacks followed by tapes sent to
Al-Jazeera. But neither the Algerian government nor the public seem
to believe that Al-Qaeda has moved into their country.

The only ones who seem to believe the SGPC is part of Al-Qaeda are
those who opposed national reconciliation to start with. former
information minister Rehabi, who recently said that the situation in
the country is similar to that in Afghanistan and Iraq, chastised
the president for not doing more to crush the militants.

Meanwhile, Washington has warned its citizens against travelling to
Algeria, especially the province of Tizi Ouzou.