Algiers attacks seen as show of allegiance for al-Qaeda

12/12/2007

Experts say Tuesday's twin attacks show that remnants of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in Algeria are going out of their way to impress leader Osama bin Laden. Algerian officials have vowed to fight terrorists "most severely".

By Nazim Fethi and Boualam Senhadji for Magharebia in Algiers – 12/12/07

[Getty Images] Prime Minister Belkhadem said Algeria will continue "implementing the charter for peace and national reconciliation." He added that those who reject this process "must be fought most severely."

Officials and analysts in Algeria have come out in agreement that Tuesday’s twin attacks in Algiers represent a show of allegiance by embattled terrorists to the al-Qaeda network and its fugitive leader Osama bin Laden.

Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb has claimed responsibility for the December 11th attacks, which left 30 dead and 28 injured, according to the latest official tally. An internet statement by the group showed photos of two suicide bombers who allegedly targeted the UN and Constitutional Council. The statement said the attacks were in response to claims the group had been weakened and to avenge the killing of the group's leaders by Algerian security forces. The "invasion", as the group described the attack, serves as a "reminder to crusaders… to listen well to the demands and speeches of Osama bin Laden".

The terrorists took advantage of relaxed security measures following the November 29th local elections, Interior Minister Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni said on Tuesday. The choice of the Constitutional Council, UNDP and UNHCR offices as targets for the two attacks, Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem said on Tuesday, demonstrates the impotence and desperation of the group, which "is trying to show that it has the ability to attack symbols of the state."

Security forces have recently been successful in arresting or killing several influential elements of the terrorist organisation. The surrender of major leaders such as Hassan Hattab, the founder of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which later changed its name to al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, have also had an impact on the groups' capabilities. Many GSPC leaders were reportedly unhappy with the strategy of targeting civilians, particularly after the April 11th attack on the government palace in Algiers. The exploitation of minors in suicide attacks also earned the scorn of the Algerian public, further weakening the group's standing.

"Anyone can go into a café with a Kalashnikov, open fire and cause carnage. Anyone can leave a vehicle laden with explosives anywhere," a counterterrorism officer speaking on condition of anonymity told Magharebia. "Our role is to track down the people pulling the strings, especially those who run the laboratories where explosives are manufactured, those who supply the items being used to make them and above all those who give orders for attacks to be carried out."

Since it announced its allegiance to the al-Qaeda network in December 2006, Droukdel's group has been doing "everything it can to please bin Laden by trying to copy the Iraqi and Afghan models here," said the counterterrorism officer. "Suicide attacks had never been carried out in Algeria before that date."

Aziz Azizi, columnist for the daily newspaper Horizons, said the two attacks are a "fresh warning of the consequences of lowering our guard, despite the recent successes of the security forces." He stressed that terrorism is "a real and ubiquitous threat."

Kamal Amghar of the daily La Tribune said, "The procedures and methods used, because of their extreme cowardice, bear all the hallmarks of the hatred-filled desperados of the GSPC who have suffered a number of setbacks over the last few months."

Prime Minister Belkhadem assured the public that Algeria "will continue to implement the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation," adding that those who have rejected this process "must be fought most severely."

Belkhadem stressed that terrorism has no borders, no nationality and no religion, and said heads of state and the public now realise it is an international phenomenon that requires co-operation in order to thwart it.