More Algerians surrender
Algeria, Politics, 10/7/1999

Algerian Minister of the Interior Abdelmalek Sellal has announced that some 531 members of the Armed Islamic Group have surrendered inside and outside Algeria through midday on Tuesday, adding that some 489 of them surrendered inside Algeria.

Sellal said in a press conference yesterday that the "terrorists" who surrendered to the authorities since July 13 included 25 women and that most of those who surrendered were from the militant Armed Islamic Group (GIA).

In a press conference he held on Wednesday the Algerian minister said a new group including 140-150 members is expected to surrender to the Algerian authorities this week.

Algerian President Abdelaziz restated that the grace period for benefiting from the civil reconciliation law, according to which armed groups are pardoned, ends on January 13, 2000.

Meanwhile, politicians and local newspapers said the GIA, which is considered the most violent extremist faction in Algeria, has witnessed internal divisions since the peace agreement between the government and the Islamic Salvation Army, which is a more moderate group, was signed.

It is thought on a large scale that the GIA is responsible for most of the slaughters of civilians that took place during seven years of violence that claimed more than 100,000 victims.

Sellal said that about half of these who surrendered came from the extremists' hiding places in the provinces in the middle of the country around the capital, adding that another 42 persons surrendered to the Algerian embassies in foreign countries, most of them in Libya and Sudan where they escaped after the attacks against them increased in Algeria.

Previous Stories:
  Eight gunmen killed in Algeria   (10/6/1999)
  70 Algerian terrorists abroad surrender themselves   (10/5/1999)
  Violence continues in Algeria   (9/29/1999)

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