Al Qaeda deputy killed in Algeria: report Tue Oct 9, 7:08 AM ET
ALGIERS (Reuters) - The deputy chief of al Qaeda's North Africa wing, believed to be the group's operational leader, was killed along with two other rebels in a gun battle with Algerian troops, local newspapers said on Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT Hareg Zoheir, also known as Sofiane Abu Fasila, was said to be the second-in-command of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and suspected of being behind planning most of the suicide bombings in Algeria in the recent months. He was shot dead on Sunday at a check point in the eastern region of Tzizi Ouzou, the country's leading dailies reported. "Sofiane is a big, big fish. In a way, he was the real boss of the organization in Algeria," Eshorouk's editor and security specialist Anis Rahmani told Reuters, adding that " he was a man of action not a man of religion." Two other rebels were also killed alongside him during a clash with government troops at the check point, El Watan and Eshorouk newspapers added. Both were also suspected to be involved in preparing suicide attacks, said the newspapers. In September, 60 people were killed in bomb attacks in Algeria, which included an attempt to assassinate President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Seventy-five people died in political violence during the same period and 369 people since the beginning of this year, according to a Reuters count based on newspaper reports. Algeria is emerging from more than a decade of conflict that began when the military-backed government scrapped 1992 legislative elections a radical Islamic party was poised to win. The bloodshed has subsided in recent years and last year the government freed more than 2,000 former Islamist guerrillas under an amnesty designed to put an end to the conflict. But a surge of violence began when Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat guerrillas aligned themselves with al Qaeda in January and vowed attacks on the government and foreign interests. Analysts say the introduction of suicide bombers, more lethal bomb-making technology, fund-raising from protection rackets and smuggling, and an increasingly sophisticated Web-based publicity machine have helped the rebels stay active. <http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071009/wl_nm/algeria_qaeda_dc;_ylt=AlRN720\ fpiCaMXy0sOXTJDm96Q8F <http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071009/wl_nm/algeria_qaeda_dc;_ylt=AlRN720\ fpiCaMXy0sOXTJDm96Q8F> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
