Algerian forces kill 140 gunmen

Algerian troops have killed about 140 of some 180 rebels they had encircled, and bulldozers clearing a path for the advance have unearthed dozens of corpses of unidentified people, an Algerian newspaper said on July 21.

"In their advance the bulldozers unearthed by accident dozens of corpses. The authorities are still unable to identify whether they are civilians kidnapped by armed gangs, or gunmen," El Watan newspaper said.

The offensive began 10 days ago when a kidnapped woman escaped her rebel abductors and tipped off government forces on the gunmen's whereabouts, the newspaper said.

About 20 rebels had attacked a hamlet near an underground gunmen base in Attatba area of Blida province, about 50 km south of Algiers, the newspaper said.

They cut the throats of three women in the attack and abducted the woman who was handed over to the assailants, Al Watan said.

The security forces have so far killed about 140 rebels in their slow offensive hampered by the rugged area, Al Watan said.

The gunmen were members of gangs operating in the Algiers "Moslem" stronghold of Babel Oued, Sidi Moussa area in Blida region and Kolea in the coastal province of Tipaza, some 60 km south west of Algiers, it said.

Meanwhile, Algeria's newly elected parliament met for the first time on July 22 to examine ways of accelerating economic reform and easing political strife in this insurgency-torn country.

Major changes in government policy are not expected since parties loyal to president Liamine Zeroual, a former general, won a majority in the June 5 legislative elections.

Zeroual's government has been fighting a "Muslim" insurgency that erupted after the military canceled 1992 parliamentary elections that the Islamic Salvation Front was on the verge of winning.