Over 50 Algerians killed before cease-fire

40 villagers, including 10 children, were slaughtered by Armed Islamic Group activists on Sunday night in a new attack in the massacre-ridden Belida province of southern Algeria, the Algerian newspaper Al Watan said yesterday.

Among the dead was an 8-month old baby, Al Watan said. This massacre took place in Chablis area where at least 60 villagers were slaughtered in similar assaults on April 13 and May 15 this year. "Le Matin" said the number of dead is over 50. No independent confirmation was available and no claims of responsibility have been announced.

"La Tribune" paper reported that suspected rebels killed 10 workers at a building site at Rais Hamido in Algeria on the same night.

Four members of one family were hacked to death in the same area and another four family members were slaughtered in the Sidi Yousef area in northwest Algeria on Monday.

Two woman and one man were also murdered in the western province of Telemcen on Monday, "Le Liberte" paper said.

This news of massacres came only hours before the beginning of a cease-fire by Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) rebels, widely seen as a glimmer of hope after years of bloodshed in Algeria, Al Ahram daily said today.