afrol News, 16 May - Algeria's Minister of Interior and Local Communities has confirmed 375 abduction cases in 2007. Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni told the Algiers parliament that 115 cases had been related to terrorism while the remaining 260 were related to family disputes.

International observers noted that the openness of the Interior Minister was an extraordinary event. It was the first time abduction statistics were revealed by the Ministry, which is not famed for publishing details regarding the country's security situation.

Mr Zerhouni summed up last year's events in parliament. The Algerian Islamist group calling itself al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) recently held two Austrians tourists in Tunisia demanding the release of its members held in Tunisia and Algeria.

In Algeria, the conflict between the government and Islamists is deep-rooted. In the 1990s, after the Islamists were hindered from taking on power after winning an election, years of insurgency is believed to have killed around 200,000 people.

Interior Minister Zerhouni said security forces had killed one rebel leader and arrested six associates responsible for the 11 December 2007 twin bombings in Algiers by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. Security forces also claimed that rebel leader "emir" Hamza was shot in February during a counter-terror raid.

The attacks on Algeria's security forces continued despite the announcement by the Algeria’s Security chief Ali Tounsi to beef-up security to 200,000 by 2010.

Despite hope instilled in the masses of the Algerian people for a better life in the oil rich country, they are still haunted by acts of terrorism, as Minister Zerhouni's report bore witness of.

By Tšepiso Mncina

© afrol News

Related pages and feature

Current afrol News Top Stories