Peace opponents behind Algeria bomb - Islamist

ALGIERS, Aug 16 (Reuters) A bomb attack on a former Islamist rebel who had accepted an Algerian government amnesty was carried out by opponents of national reconciliation, the former head of his rebel group said today.

Mustapha Kertali was wounded on Tuesday by the bomb that exploded under his car as he drove away from a mosque in a town south of Algiers.

Madani Mezrag, who led the armed wing of the now-banned Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), said the attack coincided with preparations by former members to set up a political party to back the government's peace drive.

''Kertali was not targeted as a person but as a symbol of those who seek stability and security. Some parties are seeking to deepen the crisis,'' he added, without elaborating.

There was no claim of responsibility for Tuesday's attack.

Mezrag said the attack would mean a delay to an August 17 meeting of former members of the Islamic Salvation Army to discuss forming the party, but he said it would still take place soon.

''We want to create a political movement to return to the political scene. We will submit a request to the interior ministry to authorise our movement,'' Mezrag told a news conference.

It was not immediately clear whether the government would permit a party to be set up by former members of the Islamic Salvation Army. Mezrag has not been allowed to stand for election in the past.

An Islamist uprising began in 1992 when the authorities scrapped legislative elections the FIS was poised to win. Up to 200,000 people have been killed since then in the second-largest African country.

Kertali surrendered to authorities in 2000 under an amnesty. He strongly supported another amnesty that President Abdelaziz Bouteflika issued last year as part of a wider national reconciliation plan to draw a final line under the bloodshed.

Most recent attacks have been claimed by the al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, previously known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat.

Reuters SBC DB2356