17/04/2007
Massive country-wide demonstrations and a rally are being held Tuesday (April 17th) in Algeria. The demonstrations were initiated by the Workers' General Union (UGTA) to condemn the April 11th bomb attacks in the capital and to affirm citizens' support for national reconciliation. Local press reported that political parties backed the initiative and have voiced their will to participate "strongly" in the rally in the capital and other provinces. Interior Minister Nourredine Yazid Zerhouni gave a statement encouraging the demonstrations, saying that they will "strengthen Algerian people to rally to a counter-terrorism strategy which has proven to be efficient".
In related news, Ech-Chourouk reported that Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) founder Hassan Hattab called on group members on Monday to lay down arms under a new government amnesty. He made the statement in an open letter addressed to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika as well, urging him to renew national peace and reconciliation efforts. The GSPC, which changed its name to the al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb in January, claimed the responsibility for the April 11th attacks in Algiers. According to Hattab, the organisation is now led by Abdelmalek Droudkel, also known as Abu Musab Abdul Wadud, and is "a small group that wants to transform Algeria into a second Iraq". Abassi Madani and Ali Belhadj, founders of the banned radical Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) which were expected to win parliamentary elections in 1992, also condemned the attacks. El Khabar quoted Madani as saying that "al-Qaeda made a big mistake in using violence in a country in desperate need of a political solution."