Bombs, GSPC chiefs, and amnesty

Liberte: Cellphone-activated bomb explodes near train station in the town center of Boumerdes, wounding two policemen and two passersby and provoking panic. A fake bomb had been placed 17 metres away, presumably in the hope of luring policemen to the area.

Meanwhile, El Watan claims that 50-odd GSPC chiefs have been eliminated in the past month, of whom the most important was Abbas "Selmane" Boubekeur, head of the Al Ansar Brigade, killed last Friday in the forests between Azazga and Yakouren. They also mention another Al Ansar Brigade emir, Boumis Redouane, of the forests of Bouberak and Mizrana near Dellys; "Abou Omeir" Houari Youcef, head of zone 6, including Skikda and the Babor mountains; and a GSPC mufti, Makhlouf Ammar "Abou Al Barrâa".

El Khabar notes that a total of 408 guerrillas have surrendered and received amnesty under the National Reconciliation Act; 125 of them had already been arrested.