ALGERIA: OFFICIALS ORDER CLOSURE OF 19 PROTESTANT CONGREGATIONS
Police in Muslim country detain Christians for carrying Bibles.
ISTANBUL, March 28 (Compass Direct News) – Police issued written orders for three Algerian churches to cease activity this week, bringing to 19 the number of congregations told to shut down since November, an Algerian Protestant leader said.
In addition to the three churches, registered under the Protestant Church of Algeria (EPA), two independent congregations were verbally ordered to close their doors, EPA President Mustapha Krim said.
The church closures come amid a flurry of antagonistic media articles warning of campaigns by Protestants to “Christianize” Algeria.
“Muslims do not accept seeing their holy symbols attacked,” Religious Affairs Minister Bu’Abdallah Ghoulamullah said this week in reference to a “Christianization campaign” targeting the country.
Ghoulamullah called on Christian groups in Algeria to re-register according to Algeria’s associations’ law, the March 25 article in Arabic daily El Khabar reported.
But some critics have responded that Algeria’s Christians, not its Muslim majority, are the ones being attacked.
“The repression of evangelist proselytism has turned into the harassment of Christians,” columnist Mustapha Hammouche wrote in Liberte on Tuesday (March 25).
Indeed, Algerian Christians have claimed that the government has blocked them from carrying out the required re-registration of their churches.
“The administration offices in Tizi-Ouzou did not want to or could not say which measures to take in order to obtain the famous ‘certificate of conformity,’” church leaders wrote on March 26. They said the certificate was required to show that they were in line with a new March 2006 law governing non-Muslim places of worship.
“[The] result: the churches are closed, services forbidden, and nothing can change the situation!” reported the Algerian Christian website collectifalgerie.free.fr on March 26.
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Pertinent Links:
1) ALGERIA: OFFICIALS ORDER CLOSURE OF 19 PROTESTANT CONGREGATIONS
Showing posts with label Algeria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Algeria. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
DAR AL ISLAM-ALGERIA: RELEASE OUR JIHADIST BRETHERNS IN EXCHANGE FOR THESE AUSTRIANS - - - WILL THEY DELIVER THE AUSTRIANS IN PIECES?!?
Al-Qaeda posts photo of Austrian hostages and issues ultimatum
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb on Friday released a photo showing the two Austrian tourists that were kidnapped on 29 February in Tunisia and also issued an ultimatum.
The photo, which was published on Islamist websites on the Internet, showed the two Austrians dressed in robes and surrounded by their captors who were armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.
The terrorists also gave a three day ultimatum on the tourists.
"We announce with this statement that we ask Austria to release some of our men who are in prison in Tunisia and Algeria in exchange for the release of these two tourists," the militant group said.
They also said that they had given a list of the names of the group's prisoners to Vienna and that they would give the Austrian authorities three days, beginning Thursday, to respond.
The two hostages, who went missing last month during a trip to Tunisia, have been identified as Andrea Kloiber, 43, and Wolfgang Ebner, 51.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Al-Qaeda posts photo of Austrian hostages and issues ultimatum
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb on Friday released a photo showing the two Austrian tourists that were kidnapped on 29 February in Tunisia and also issued an ultimatum.
The photo, which was published on Islamist websites on the Internet, showed the two Austrians dressed in robes and surrounded by their captors who were armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.
The terrorists also gave a three day ultimatum on the tourists.
"We announce with this statement that we ask Austria to release some of our men who are in prison in Tunisia and Algeria in exchange for the release of these two tourists," the militant group said.
They also said that they had given a list of the names of the group's prisoners to Vienna and that they would give the Austrian authorities three days, beginning Thursday, to respond.
The two hostages, who went missing last month during a trip to Tunisia, have been identified as Andrea Kloiber, 43, and Wolfgang Ebner, 51.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Al-Qaeda posts photo of Austrian hostages and issues ultimatum
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
DAR AL HARB/ISLAM-AUSTRALIA/TUNISIA/ALGERIA: TWO KIDNAPPED AUSSIES TAKEN TO ALGERIA?!?
Al-Qaeda claims to have taken Austrian captives to Algeria
Algiers, 11 March(AKI) - Al-Qaeda's North African arm has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of two Austrian tourists in Tunisia and said they had now been taken to neighbouring Algeria, according to pan-Arab daily al-Sharq al-Awsat.
The al-Qaeda militants also vowed to kill the hostages if Algerian security services tried to free them by force.
On Monday, the Arab television network, al-Jazeera received a phone call reportedly from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claiming the kidnapping of Wolfgang Ebner and Andrea Kloiber on 22 February was revenge for the Israeli raids in Gaza in late February and early March.
Ebner and Kloiber arrived to the Tunisian port of La Goulette-Tunis on 10 February from the northern Italian city of Genoa on a tour of the Saharan region.
On Tuesday, more details of the kidnapping emerged.
"A brigade from the mujahadeen managed to infiltrate in Tunisian territory and kidnap two Austrian tourists on 22 February," read a note allegedly sent from the militants.
The militants also provided the passport numbers of the captives and say that they were both in good health.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Al-Qaeda claims to have taken Austrian captives to Algeria
Algiers, 11 March(AKI) - Al-Qaeda's North African arm has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of two Austrian tourists in Tunisia and said they had now been taken to neighbouring Algeria, according to pan-Arab daily al-Sharq al-Awsat.
The al-Qaeda militants also vowed to kill the hostages if Algerian security services tried to free them by force.
On Monday, the Arab television network, al-Jazeera received a phone call reportedly from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claiming the kidnapping of Wolfgang Ebner and Andrea Kloiber on 22 February was revenge for the Israeli raids in Gaza in late February and early March.
Ebner and Kloiber arrived to the Tunisian port of La Goulette-Tunis on 10 February from the northern Italian city of Genoa on a tour of the Saharan region.
On Tuesday, more details of the kidnapping emerged.
"A brigade from the mujahadeen managed to infiltrate in Tunisian territory and kidnap two Austrian tourists on 22 February," read a note allegedly sent from the militants.
The militants also provided the passport numbers of the captives and say that they were both in good health.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Al-Qaeda claims to have taken Austrian captives to Algeria
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
DAR AL HARB-FRANCE: MOSLEM 'JEW HATRED' ON THE WORLD STAGE - - - IS ANYONE PAYING ATTENTION?!?
Muslim Protest At Paris Book Fair
A book fair in Paris has become the subject of controversy with several Muslim countries announcing boycotts because the guest of honour is Israel.
Saudi Arabia has become the latest to withdraw, following Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Muslim Protest At Paris Book Fair
A book fair in Paris has become the subject of controversy with several Muslim countries announcing boycotts because the guest of honour is Israel.
Saudi Arabia has become the latest to withdraw, following Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Muslim Protest At Paris Book Fair
Thursday, February 14, 2008
DAR AL ISLAM-ALGERIA: ONE YEAR PRISON TERM FOR A PRIEST THAT PRAYED IN A LOCATION NOT SANCTIONED BY A 'MODERATE' MOSLEM GOVERNMENT
Priest Penalized for Praying in Algeria
2006 Pro-Islam Law Begins to Have Effects
ROME, FEB. 13, 2008 (Zenit.org).- A Catholic priest was sentenced by the tribunal of Oran, a city in northwestern Algeria, to a year in prison for having “directed a religious ceremony in a place which has not been recognized by the government.”
Father Pierre Wallez is the first victim of legislation approved in March 2006 regarding the exercise of the practices of non Muslim worship, in this North African country of 33 million residents, 99% of whom are Muslim.
Speaking Saturday on Vatican Radio, Archbishop Henri Teissier of Alger, explained that “the most surprising thing is that the conviction was issued simply because the priest visited a group of Christians in Cameroon. He had not celebrated Mass, but was only joining them in a prayer. It was Dec. 29, a little after Christmas."
The prelate clarified that the sentence will not be carried out, because the tribunal decided to modify it to a sentence of parole.
“Obviously we are all very shocked by the decision made against our brother,” the archbishop said.
According to a report by the Italian daily Avvenire, along with Father Wallez, a young Muslim doctor was condemned to a harsher punishment (two years without parole) for using medicines “paid for by Caritas,” sources from the Algers archdiocesan office said.
“They systematically reject entrance visas for our delegates,” stated the archbishop, “and in November they withdrew the residency permission for four young Brazilian priests who were working with the Portuguese-speaking African immigrants.”
In Algeria, Islam is the state religion, and freedom of worship is purportedly guaranteed by the constitution. The new law on worship sought above all to control clandestine evangelical proselytizing groups, which Archbishop Tessier said, “have made something of a racket because of the conversion of some of the faithful.”
The law, composed of 17 articles, prohibits the exercise of non-Islamic worship outside buildings approved by authorities.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Priest Penalized for Praying in Algeria
2006 Pro-Islam Law Begins to Have Effects
ROME, FEB. 13, 2008 (Zenit.org).- A Catholic priest was sentenced by the tribunal of Oran, a city in northwestern Algeria, to a year in prison for having “directed a religious ceremony in a place which has not been recognized by the government.”
Father Pierre Wallez is the first victim of legislation approved in March 2006 regarding the exercise of the practices of non Muslim worship, in this North African country of 33 million residents, 99% of whom are Muslim.
Speaking Saturday on Vatican Radio, Archbishop Henri Teissier of Alger, explained that “the most surprising thing is that the conviction was issued simply because the priest visited a group of Christians in Cameroon. He had not celebrated Mass, but was only joining them in a prayer. It was Dec. 29, a little after Christmas."
The prelate clarified that the sentence will not be carried out, because the tribunal decided to modify it to a sentence of parole.
“Obviously we are all very shocked by the decision made against our brother,” the archbishop said.
According to a report by the Italian daily Avvenire, along with Father Wallez, a young Muslim doctor was condemned to a harsher punishment (two years without parole) for using medicines “paid for by Caritas,” sources from the Algers archdiocesan office said.
“They systematically reject entrance visas for our delegates,” stated the archbishop, “and in November they withdrew the residency permission for four young Brazilian priests who were working with the Portuguese-speaking African immigrants.”
In Algeria, Islam is the state religion, and freedom of worship is purportedly guaranteed by the constitution. The new law on worship sought above all to control clandestine evangelical proselytizing groups, which Archbishop Tessier said, “have made something of a racket because of the conversion of some of the faithful.”
The law, composed of 17 articles, prohibits the exercise of non-Islamic worship outside buildings approved by authorities.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Priest Penalized for Praying in Algeria
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
DAR AL ISLAM - ALGERIA: CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION IN ANOTHER 'MODERATE' MOSLEM NATION
Algerian Active Christians Face Fresh Crackdown
Algerian authorities have launched a crackdown on Christians suspected of involvement in evangelism, as part of attempts to enforce a new strict religious law, a well-informed rights group said Tuesday, February 5.
Netherlands-based Open Doors, which has close contacts with Christians reportedly persecuted for their faith, told BosNewsLife that active believers are especially under pressure in Kabylia, a cultural region in the north of Algeria, where Christians have apparently been arrested and dismissed from their workplace.
In one of the latest incidents, the director of a Christian school in Kabylia region was allegedly fired by Algeria's Ministry of Education for his alleged involvement in evangelism. Open Doors researchers quoted the national radio broadcaster as saying that the director "used the school to propagate Christianity, in violation of the study plan of the school."
Earlier in Kabylia, in the town of Tizi Ouzo, five Christians were sentenced for preaching Christianity last year, with some of them receiving one year imprisonment, BosNewsLife reported earlier, citing Algerian media in September.
STRICT LAW
Last year Algeria’s parliament adopted a law that provides tough prison sentence for those "trying to call on a Muslim to embrace another religion." Commentators said at the time that the law in the North African nation was in response to Christian evangelists and missionary workers who have preached in several parts of the country.
The law would be especially applied to "anyone urging or forcing or tempting, to convert a Muslim to another religion." Christian publishers have been targeted as the same penalties apply to every "person, manufacturer, store or circulate publications or audio-visual [media]" or other communication tools "aiming at destabilizing attachment to Islam."
The law also bans practicing any religion "except Islam" outside "buildings allocated for that" by prior licensing. The Ministry of Religious Affairs has suggested that the aim of the law is to "ban religious activity" and what it called "secret religious campaigns." However Open Doors said the legislation violates Algeria's own constitution, which includes guarantees related to "freedom of conscious and opinion as well as freedom of assembly."
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Algerian Active Christians Face Fresh Crackdown
Algerian authorities have launched a crackdown on Christians suspected of involvement in evangelism, as part of attempts to enforce a new strict religious law, a well-informed rights group said Tuesday, February 5.
Netherlands-based Open Doors, which has close contacts with Christians reportedly persecuted for their faith, told BosNewsLife that active believers are especially under pressure in Kabylia, a cultural region in the north of Algeria, where Christians have apparently been arrested and dismissed from their workplace.
In one of the latest incidents, the director of a Christian school in Kabylia region was allegedly fired by Algeria's Ministry of Education for his alleged involvement in evangelism. Open Doors researchers quoted the national radio broadcaster as saying that the director "used the school to propagate Christianity, in violation of the study plan of the school."
Earlier in Kabylia, in the town of Tizi Ouzo, five Christians were sentenced for preaching Christianity last year, with some of them receiving one year imprisonment, BosNewsLife reported earlier, citing Algerian media in September.
STRICT LAW
Last year Algeria’s parliament adopted a law that provides tough prison sentence for those "trying to call on a Muslim to embrace another religion." Commentators said at the time that the law in the North African nation was in response to Christian evangelists and missionary workers who have preached in several parts of the country.
The law would be especially applied to "anyone urging or forcing or tempting, to convert a Muslim to another religion." Christian publishers have been targeted as the same penalties apply to every "person, manufacturer, store or circulate publications or audio-visual [media]" or other communication tools "aiming at destabilizing attachment to Islam."
The law also bans practicing any religion "except Islam" outside "buildings allocated for that" by prior licensing. The Ministry of Religious Affairs has suggested that the aim of the law is to "ban religious activity" and what it called "secret religious campaigns." However Open Doors said the legislation violates Algeria's own constitution, which includes guarantees related to "freedom of conscious and opinion as well as freedom of assembly."
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Algerian Active Christians Face Fresh Crackdown
Friday, July 20, 2007
DAR AL ISLAM - ALGERIA: IT WOULD BE EASIER TO MAP UP WHERE AL QUEDA & OR ITS FRANCHIZEES DON'T CALL HOME
Algeria: Army 'arrests 65 militants linked to al-Qaeda'
Algiers, 20 July (AKI) - Algerian security forces are conducting an ongoing military operation in northern Algeria which 65 militants allegedly linked to al-Qaeda have been arrested in the Maghreb region of north Africa.
According to security officials quoted in local media, the Islamic militants were surrounded in the mountains of Yakouren, 150 kilometres from Algiers.
In an ongoing operation to rout terrorists, security forces were said to be pummelling the area with heavy artillery said the Algerian daily, El Chourouk.
Of those arrested, three were reportedly recognised in an al-Qaeda video aired on the internet in late June.
Among the militants found in thick forest was Abdelqader Benhadj, was the son of the former second in command from the outlawed political organisation, the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS).
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Algeria: Army 'arrests 65 militants linked to al-Qaeda'
Algiers, 20 July (AKI) - Algerian security forces are conducting an ongoing military operation in northern Algeria which 65 militants allegedly linked to al-Qaeda have been arrested in the Maghreb region of north Africa.
According to security officials quoted in local media, the Islamic militants were surrounded in the mountains of Yakouren, 150 kilometres from Algiers.
In an ongoing operation to rout terrorists, security forces were said to be pummelling the area with heavy artillery said the Algerian daily, El Chourouk.
Of those arrested, three were reportedly recognised in an al-Qaeda video aired on the internet in late June.
Among the militants found in thick forest was Abdelqader Benhadj, was the son of the former second in command from the outlawed political organisation, the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS).
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Algeria: Army 'arrests 65 militants linked to al-Qaeda'
Monday, July 09, 2007
DAR AL HARB/ISLAM - FRANCE/ALGERIA: SARKOZY INTERVIEW WITH ALGERIAN DAILIES OF EL WATAN & EL KHABAR
Interview with Mr. Nicolas SARKOZY, President of the French Republic With the two Algerian news dailies El Watan and El Khabar
“My visit to Maghreban States falls within consultation endeavors with our partners in the Southern bank, especially those key countries including Algeria, the first step in may visit”, such has the French President Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy started his interview, the first of its kind given to the Maghreban press after his election as a President of the French Republic. The Algerian-French Friendship Treaty, the economic cooperation, and immigration issues were at the crux of the interview.
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Pertinent Links:
1) Interview with Mr. Nicolas SARKOZY, President of the French Republic With the two Algerian news dailies El Watan and El Khabar
“My visit to Maghreban States falls within consultation endeavors with our partners in the Southern bank, especially those key countries including Algeria, the first step in may visit”, such has the French President Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy started his interview, the first of its kind given to the Maghreban press after his election as a President of the French Republic. The Algerian-French Friendship Treaty, the economic cooperation, and immigration issues were at the crux of the interview.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Interview with Mr. Nicolas SARKOZY, President of the French Republic With the two Algerian news dailies El Watan and El Khabar
Thursday, April 12, 2007
DAR AL ISLAM - NORTH AFRICA: THE JIHAD IN NORTH AFRICA & HOW NATIONS ARE COPING WITH IT
How North African nations are dealing with Islamist resurgence
By Jill Carroll, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
CASABLANCA, Morocco - Two car bombs in Algeria Wednesday provided jarring reminders of the Islamic insurgency that wreaked havoc there in the 1990s. It was a signal that yet another large-scale battle with militants may be brewing.
For weeks, the government has been fighting Al Qaeda-linked insurgents in the remote highlands of the North African nation. But these are the first attacks on the capital, Algiers, in years – one hit the prime minister's office in the city center and the other a police station in the eastern outskirts. Together the attacks killed at least 30 people.
In neighboring Morocco on Tuesday, three suspected terrorists exploded suicide belts and another was shot dead as police were chasing them. They were all wanted in connection with another suicide bombing on March 11.
The governments of this region, ruled by entrenched authoritarians, face a confrontation with a growing Islamist movement. Some groups are rising up to challenge the government in elections, and others are becoming more violent.
The challenge for the leaders of Morocco and Algeria, say analysts, is how to subdue the Islamist movement without empowering more radicals or undercutting mainstream, moderate Muslim forces.
"What the Moroccans did was smart, by opening the door slowly, by allowing in [several] Islamist [groups]. That's one way of diluting the power of any one party," says Marina Ottaway, head of the Middle East program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.
"The worst thing that can happen from the point of view of the government is what happened in Algeria [in the 1990s]," she says. "All of the sudden they uncorked the bottle, and all the [political] support goes to the Islamists," which the government then tried to suppress, sparking a brutal civil war that started in 1992.
Rita Katz, director of the Search for International Terrorist Entities (SITE) institute in Washington, confirmed that Wednesday's attacks were carried out by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the newly renamed group of veteran Algerian fighters from the civil war.
"They changed their strategy in the last few months to Al Qaeda [style of] targeting military positions and foreign companies. I believe they carried out this attempted attack on the prime minister. It really looks like them," says Ms. Katz.
Morocco has seen only a smattering of such violence recently, but analysts say the way it handles political opposition will determine whether radical elements of Islamist groups are empowered.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) How North African nations are dealing with Islamist resurgence
By Jill Carroll, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
CASABLANCA, Morocco - Two car bombs in Algeria Wednesday provided jarring reminders of the Islamic insurgency that wreaked havoc there in the 1990s. It was a signal that yet another large-scale battle with militants may be brewing.
For weeks, the government has been fighting Al Qaeda-linked insurgents in the remote highlands of the North African nation. But these are the first attacks on the capital, Algiers, in years – one hit the prime minister's office in the city center and the other a police station in the eastern outskirts. Together the attacks killed at least 30 people.
In neighboring Morocco on Tuesday, three suspected terrorists exploded suicide belts and another was shot dead as police were chasing them. They were all wanted in connection with another suicide bombing on March 11.
The governments of this region, ruled by entrenched authoritarians, face a confrontation with a growing Islamist movement. Some groups are rising up to challenge the government in elections, and others are becoming more violent.
The challenge for the leaders of Morocco and Algeria, say analysts, is how to subdue the Islamist movement without empowering more radicals or undercutting mainstream, moderate Muslim forces.
"What the Moroccans did was smart, by opening the door slowly, by allowing in [several] Islamist [groups]. That's one way of diluting the power of any one party," says Marina Ottaway, head of the Middle East program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.
"The worst thing that can happen from the point of view of the government is what happened in Algeria [in the 1990s]," she says. "All of the sudden they uncorked the bottle, and all the [political] support goes to the Islamists," which the government then tried to suppress, sparking a brutal civil war that started in 1992.
Rita Katz, director of the Search for International Terrorist Entities (SITE) institute in Washington, confirmed that Wednesday's attacks were carried out by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the newly renamed group of veteran Algerian fighters from the civil war.
"They changed their strategy in the last few months to Al Qaeda [style of] targeting military positions and foreign companies. I believe they carried out this attempted attack on the prime minister. It really looks like them," says Ms. Katz.
Morocco has seen only a smattering of such violence recently, but analysts say the way it handles political opposition will determine whether radical elements of Islamist groups are empowered.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) How North African nations are dealing with Islamist resurgence
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
DAR AL ISLAM - ALGERIA: AN ALGERIAN DAILY CRITICIZE THE ANTI-WAR HIPPIES
Liberal Algerian Daily Criticizes U.S. Anti-War Movement
In an opinion piece in the liberal Algerian daily Liberté, columnist Mustapha Hammouche criticizes what he sees as the simplistic populism of the anti-war movement in the U.S. He argues that the anti-war protests are primarily a result of nostalgia for the protest movement against the Vietnam War, and that they ignore the realities of the current war in Iraq - which, he says, has helped terrorism diminish Iraqis' hopes and has eroded their support for democracy.
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Read the whole thing...
Pertinent Links:
1) Liberal Algerian Daily Criticizes U.S. Anti-War Movement
In an opinion piece in the liberal Algerian daily Liberté, columnist Mustapha Hammouche criticizes what he sees as the simplistic populism of the anti-war movement in the U.S. He argues that the anti-war protests are primarily a result of nostalgia for the protest movement against the Vietnam War, and that they ignore the realities of the current war in Iraq - which, he says, has helped terrorism diminish Iraqis' hopes and has eroded their support for democracy.
...
Read the whole thing...
Pertinent Links:
1) Liberal Algerian Daily Criticizes U.S. Anti-War Movement
Thursday, March 15, 2007
DAR AL HARB - U.S.A.: A POTENTIAL TERRORIST ATTACK ON PLANES FROM ALGIERS
US mission warns of plane attack plot
Algiers: Extremists in Algeria may be plotting to attack a commercial airliner carrying Western workers, the US Embassy in the North African country said.
The embassy said officials have no specific details about which airline might be targeted or when the suspected plot could be carried out.
Algeria is already subject to a travel warning by the US Department of State, which says the terror risk in parts of Algeria is significant.
The embassy's warning was posted on its web site on Monday.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) US mission warns of plane attack plot
Algiers: Extremists in Algeria may be plotting to attack a commercial airliner carrying Western workers, the US Embassy in the North African country said.
The embassy said officials have no specific details about which airline might be targeted or when the suspected plot could be carried out.
Algeria is already subject to a travel warning by the US Department of State, which says the terror risk in parts of Algeria is significant.
The embassy's warning was posted on its web site on Monday.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) US mission warns of plane attack plot
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
DAR AL ISLAM-ALGERIA: ATTACK THE FRENCH INFIDELS ! ! !
Islamist group urges Algerians to target French
An Islamist group linked to Al-Qaeda has called for Algerians to carry out attacks on French nationals, in a message posted on the Internet.
"Fight the nationals of France and the agents of the Crusaders occupying our land," said Abu Mussab Abdel Wadoud, leader of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC).
"Our fathers and our ancestors fought against the French Crusaders who were driven out in humiliation," the GSPC chief said in the message dated January 3 that appeared on Islamist websites.
French intelligence services have said that the armed Islamist group poses the "number one terrorist threat" against France.
In an extract published Saturday in the daily al-Khabar, the head of the group said he had rejected a reconciliation offer renewed by Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, saying that he was waiting for "guidelines" from Al-Qaeda "for the next step."
"France which left through the door ... is coming back today through the window" in Algeria, Abdel Wadoud said.
"America is also coming back through the door to share with France the spoils of our riches and control of our destiny, with the complicity of the thief of the house, Bouteflika," he charged.
He accused the president of "fighting against Islam under the banner of the leading heretic, the United States, and forging ties of friendship with the enemy of yesterday, France".
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Islamist group urges Algerians to target French
An Islamist group linked to Al-Qaeda has called for Algerians to carry out attacks on French nationals, in a message posted on the Internet.
"Fight the nationals of France and the agents of the Crusaders occupying our land," said Abu Mussab Abdel Wadoud, leader of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC).
"Our fathers and our ancestors fought against the French Crusaders who were driven out in humiliation," the GSPC chief said in the message dated January 3 that appeared on Islamist websites.
French intelligence services have said that the armed Islamist group poses the "number one terrorist threat" against France.
In an extract published Saturday in the daily al-Khabar, the head of the group said he had rejected a reconciliation offer renewed by Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, saying that he was waiting for "guidelines" from Al-Qaeda "for the next step."
"France which left through the door ... is coming back today through the window" in Algeria, Abdel Wadoud said.
"America is also coming back through the door to share with France the spoils of our riches and control of our destiny, with the complicity of the thief of the house, Bouteflika," he charged.
He accused the president of "fighting against Islam under the banner of the leading heretic, the United States, and forging ties of friendship with the enemy of yesterday, France".
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Islamist group urges Algerians to target French
Saturday, January 06, 2007
DAR AL ISLAM-ALGERIA: SHI'IAH PROSELYTIZING IN ALGERIA
Shia groups proselytize in western Algeria
Security services have opened inquiry into Shia groups’ activity in the area to spread Shia beliefs and thoughts as well as propaganda for Islamic Republic of Iran, well-informed sources in Mascara (west) have said. Investigations led by security services have started last week following information on two groups, activating in two different places in Mascara. Both groups are working to convert young men, university students mainly, into Shia creed and specifically Twelver or duodeciman Shiism prevailing in Iran and Iraq, the same sources said.
According to first investigations, some individuals, converted into Shiism since several years, including a Public Works Direction’s executive another working in Social Insurance Company and a young lawyer -whose brother, leaving in France now, is one of the first converted into Shiism in Mascara-, are holding debate meetings into houses and public places to spread Shia beliefs and thoughts. Those converted have taken advantage of the feedback of Iranian President Amadinejad’s statements against the US -stressing Iran will go on nuclear program- among the population, in addition to the good reputation, among the Algerians, of Lebanese Hezbollah’s Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah following Israeli war on Lebanon, last summer.
Shia proselytizers in Mascara administrative centre have created a local association, months ago, holding many cultural meetings at National Liberation Army Veterans Association’s building. The second group, activating in the neighbouring district of Mamounia, is framed by four people, including a merchant, professor, an instructor and a Private Company’s employee. They have been proselytizing among young men through casting doubts on some historical facts relating to the Prophet (PBUH). Concerning the prophets’ companions and first three Caliphs, disdained by Shiite, mainly. The group was staging discuss meetings and distributing Shia books.
Mascara Religious Affairs Direction’s executives we contacted on the matter told us they knew about it and condemned it, as proselytizing to a certain Muslim creed among a different Muslim community is forbidden.
Pertinent Links:
1) Shia groups proselytize in western Algeria
Security services have opened inquiry into Shia groups’ activity in the area to spread Shia beliefs and thoughts as well as propaganda for Islamic Republic of Iran, well-informed sources in Mascara (west) have said. Investigations led by security services have started last week following information on two groups, activating in two different places in Mascara. Both groups are working to convert young men, university students mainly, into Shia creed and specifically Twelver or duodeciman Shiism prevailing in Iran and Iraq, the same sources said.
According to first investigations, some individuals, converted into Shiism since several years, including a Public Works Direction’s executive another working in Social Insurance Company and a young lawyer -whose brother, leaving in France now, is one of the first converted into Shiism in Mascara-, are holding debate meetings into houses and public places to spread Shia beliefs and thoughts. Those converted have taken advantage of the feedback of Iranian President Amadinejad’s statements against the US -stressing Iran will go on nuclear program- among the population, in addition to the good reputation, among the Algerians, of Lebanese Hezbollah’s Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah following Israeli war on Lebanon, last summer.
Shia proselytizers in Mascara administrative centre have created a local association, months ago, holding many cultural meetings at National Liberation Army Veterans Association’s building. The second group, activating in the neighbouring district of Mamounia, is framed by four people, including a merchant, professor, an instructor and a Private Company’s employee. They have been proselytizing among young men through casting doubts on some historical facts relating to the Prophet (PBUH). Concerning the prophets’ companions and first three Caliphs, disdained by Shiite, mainly. The group was staging discuss meetings and distributing Shia books.
Mascara Religious Affairs Direction’s executives we contacted on the matter told us they knew about it and condemned it, as proselytizing to a certain Muslim creed among a different Muslim community is forbidden.
Pertinent Links:
1) Shia groups proselytize in western Algeria
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