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Algerian army dismiss massacre claims
28/02/2001 11:36 - (SA)
Algiers - The Algerian army has denied accusations by a former officer in its special forces that the army carried out massacres of civilians, dismissing the claims as part of a campaign to undermine the army.
Algeria's military chief of staff said that the reports - recently published in France in a book entitled "The Dirty War" by Habib Souaidia - were an attempt to split ranks in the army.
General Mohamed Lamari, in an order to the troops issued on Monday, slammed the "mad media campaign from abroad" which he said presented "as truth, claims tying actions of the army and security
services with criminal acts comparable to those of terrorists".
In his book, Souaidia, a former officer in Algeria's special forces charged with fighting Islamic extremists, supports suspicions
voiced by human rights organisations that the Algerian military was
behind large-scale civilian massacres between 1995 and 1998.
The book has been the centre of media attention in both France and Algeria. While Algiers' press says that the Socialist International is behind a campaign to tarnish the country's image, French critics have called for an international inquiry mission to be sent to Algeria. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA
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