Islamists surrender in Algeria but attacks persist

ALGIERS, Mar 18: Fewer than 100 Islamist rebels have surrendered under an Algerian amnesty and at least 700 remain at large fighting for a purist Islamic state, the interior minister said today.

The guerillas, mostly from the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), continue to launch attacks, making it impossible to lift a state of emergency imposed in the oil-exporting North African country in 1992, Noureddine Zerhouni told state radio.

Under the amnesty approved on February 21, Islamists were given six months to surrender and be pardoned, providing they were not responsible for massacres, rapes and bombings of public places.

''Fewer than 100 surrendered so far. To be precise, I would say between 50 to 100 have surrendered since the amnesty entered into force on February 30,'' Zerhouni said.

Algeria has been freeing hundreds of jailed Islamist fighters under the amnesty, but Zerhouni said any release of Amari Saifi, one of the GSPC's highest profile members who kidnapped 32 European tourists in 2003, was doubtful.

Algeria plunged into conflict in early 1992 after the military cancelled legislative elections a radical Islamic party was set to win. Around 150,000 people were killed in ensuing violence pitting security forces against Islamists.

The latest amnesty was aimed at promoting national reconciliation after more than a decade of conflict, but Zerhouni said a state of emergency would remain.

''The state of emergency helps coordination between the army and the security forces to fight terrorism. I do not think it is wise to lift it as terrorist actions are still taking place on the ground,'' Zerhouni said.

The minister said between 700 to 800 Islamic rebels were still at large, mostly from the GSPC which is listed as a terrorist organisation by the United States. MORE ATTACKS Zerhouni said that although violence had fallen sharply in recent years, terrorist attacks were still being carried out, particularly in the two provinces of Boumerdes and Tizi Ouzou, east of the capital Algiers.

''We have a maximum of four to five terrorist actions per day. Most of the actions are located in Boumerdes, Tizi Ouzou, and at a lower intensity in the regions of Jijel, Batna and Tebessa, as a small GIA group is still present in the region of Chlef,'' he said.

Referring to the release this month of Ali Belhadj, deputy chairman of a banned Islamic party, Zerhouni said Islamic leaders could not play a political role under the amnesty.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Belhadj was among the most influential radical leaders of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), attracting hundreds of thousands to hear him speak.

''Those who have had a responsibility in using religion as a tool cannot aspire to any political activity,'' Zerhouni said.

Referring to Saifi, who was sentenced in absentia to life in jail in Algiers last year for helping to create a terrorist group, Zerhouni said the courts would have to decide his fate.

''It is a sensitive case. It is not easy. We will see what to do. But it is up to the judges to say whether he should be released or not,'' Zerhouni said.

Saifi is wanted in Germany for the 2003 kidnap of the tourists, for whom diplomats and officials said he secured a 5 million euro ( million) ransom with which he bought arms.

Observers had been expecting his release under the amnesty after authorities freed this week a founder of the Islamic Armed Group (GIA), Abdelhak Layada also known as Abu Adlane. Algeria says 2,629 Islamists were being freed under the amnesty.

REUTERS