Algeria frees top islamic militant
Algiers, 13 March (AKI) - The Algerian authorities on Sunday freed on Abdelhaq al-Yadah, the former leader and founder of the Islamic Armed Group (GIA). It was one of the most significant releases yet under a comprehensive amnesty aimed at ending a decade of civil war. Al-Yadah, arrested in 1993, was facing the death penalty. His release follows the liberation six days before of the second in command of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), Ali Belhaj.
The measure was the outcome of a Charter for Peace approved with a referendum on 29 September last year, which provides for the release of all terrorists who have reneged their actions in Algeria's civil war in the 1990s.
Al-Yadah had been convicted of many murders but authorities freed him on the grounds that the killings had been "targeted murders" rather than collective massacres.
Both Islamist groups, which were key players in the civil war against the Algerian government, have long ceased to operate in the country after the end of the war in 1998. However, former militants of the Islamic Armed Group have become members of the Salafite Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which is still active in parts of the country.
The measure was the outcome of a Charter for Peace approved with a referendum on 29 September last year, which provides for the release of all terrorists who have reneged their actions in Algeria's civil war in the 1990s.
Al-Yadah had been convicted of many murders but authorities freed him on the grounds that the killings had been "targeted murders" rather than collective massacres.
Both Islamist groups, which were key players in the civil war against the Algerian government, have long ceased to operate in the country after the end of the war in 1998. However, former militants of the Islamic Armed Group have become members of the Salafite Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which is still active in parts of the country.
posted by Marko at 3/13/2006 07:36:00 AM
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