Armed Islamic Group chief killed

ALGIERS, ALGERIA - The leader of the Armed Islamic Group - Algeria&#39;s most radical insurgency movement - was killed in a gunfight with security forces near the capital, the official news agency APS said Saturday. <br> <br> Security forces surrounded Antar Zouabri and two other insurgents on Friday in Boufarik, some 15 miles south of Algiers, and killed him in a shootout, APS reported. No other details were immediately available. <br> <br> Zouabri, 32, has been reported killed in the past, but Saturday&#39;s report was more credible since it was carried by the North African nation&#39;s official news agency. <br> <br> Zouabri&#39;s group is blamed for numerous bloody massacres in Algeria, making the Islamic insurgency here one of the world&#39;s most brutal conflicts. <br> <br> The death of Zouabri marks a major step in the military-backed government&#39;s fight against the decade-long insurgency. Zouabri was a top proponent of the group&#39;s call for a general uprising to overturn the government. <br> <br> There is only other major insurgency leader still alive: Hassan Hattab of the Salafist Group for Call and Combat. <br> <br> Zouabri has led the Armed Islamic Group since former leader Djamel Zitouni was killed in 1996 as part of a settling of scores within the group. <br> <br> Zitouni was blamed for the deadly hijacking of an Air France jetliner on Christmas Eve 1994 and a campaign of bombings in France in 1995. <br> <br> Up to 120,000 people have been killed since the insurgency started, triggered by the army&#39;s decision to cancel January 1992 legislative elections to thwart a likely victory by the now-banned Islamic Salvation Front party. <br> <br> A reported 6,000 insurgents have turned themselves in under President Abdelaziz Bouteflika&#39;s July 1999 ``civil concord&#39;&#39; plan, an amnesty offer for insurgents aimed at reconciling this divided nation. However, a much-reduced insurgency movement continues the violence. <br> <br> Three separate massacres over the past week that left at least 33 people dead were blamed on the Armed Islamic Group.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/2/203103