Libya arrests terrorists
2004-07-04 21:26
Paris - Libyan security forces arrested members of a terror cell that planned attacks on Western interests in Africa while hiding out in the Sahara Desert, a French news report said Sunday.
Several members of Algeria's Salafist Group for Call and Combat were caught in late June at Libya's border with Chad, the report in Le Journal du Dimanche said, citing an unnamed source close to a European counter-espionage service.
The Salafist group is believed responsible for the kidnappings of 32 European tourists in the Sahara last year.
The militants captured by Libya allegedly provided information about a Salafist base in Chad's Tibesti region, a remote, mountainous area of the Sahara, the report said.
The group used the base to plan attacks against Western interests on African soil, both American and European, the report said.
Militants were recruited from throughout the region and trained to use sophisticated explosives, it said.
The Salafist Group, known by its French acronym GSPC, is one of two groups that have led a violent insurgency against Algeria's military-backed government since 1992.
More than 120 000 Algerians have been killed in insurgent violence and government campaigns to suppress it.
Allegiance to al-Qaeda
A militant named Nabil Sahraoui took over leadership of the Salafist group last year and declared its allegiance to al-Qaeda. The Salafists have been diminished recently under government offensives, and Sahraoui was killed last month in a sweep by Algeria's army.
Another Salafist leader, Amari Saifi, was captured weeks ago by a rebel group in Chad. Le Journal du Dimanche reported that his release had been secured for $246 000, without specifying who paid the ransom.
However, an official with a country involved in the situation told The Associated Press that as of Saturday, a deal was believed in the works for the rebels to turn Saifi over to Libya, which in turn would hand him to Algeria, for a reported sum of $616 000.
A one-time special forces paratrooper, Saifi was the Salafists' No. 2 and is wanted in the killings of 43 Algerian soldiers and the kidnappings of European tourists in the Sahara last year.
Algerian commandos freed 14 of the European captives, while reports said Germany paid a ransom for the remaining 17 who had been taken to neighbouring Mali.
One hostage died of heat stroke.
Germany refused to confirm the reports.
- AP