BASQUE NATIONALS ATTACK SPAIN IN 28-YEAR-OLD DIVERSITYCONFLICT
12:19 PM ET 12/06/96
Muslim rebels slit throats of 19 in Algeria night raid
PARIS (Reuter) - Muslim fundamentalists slit the throats of 19 civiliansin a village near Algiers in a second night of carnage, bringing to 29 thenumber of dead in overnight attacks within 48 hours, Algerian security forcessaid Friday.
In both killings, the security forces said the victims were ``assassinatedin a cowardly way'' -- Algerian authorities' shorthand for having theirthroats cut.
The attacks followed a lull in raids on isolated communities since a Nov.28 referendum to change Algeria's constitution and ban political partiesbased on religion.
``Arm us. We cannot defend ourselves with our bare chests,'' villagers shoutedat Solidarity Minister Rabea Mechernene when he visited Ben-Salah villageafter one November attack.
Algeria's Armed Islamic Group (GIA) is suspected for most of the attackswhose ruthlessness has stunned even Algerians inured to violence after fiveyears of conflict in which about 60,000 people have been killed.
The latest raids appeared to defy President Liamine Zeroual's statementearlier this week on the referendum result which showed 84.6 percent ofvoters backing his proposed reforms.
``In approving the constitutional revision project...the Algerian peoplehave reaffirmed with force their own convictions toward all those who doubttheir capacity and determination to overcome the crisis....'' Zeroual said,adding that the constitution would come into force within days.
Algerian authorities said the referendum, under tight security, was freeof violence. Independent newspapers said at least 26 people died in bombingsand other attacks.
Since early November, despite tight censorship in Algeria, at least 190people have been reported killed in the conflict between Algerian securityforces and Muslim fundamentalists, according to independent and other sources.
Algerian security forces, in a statement carried by the official news agencyAPS, blamed ``a group of terrorists'' for Thursday night's carnage in Benachourvillage in the province of Blida 30 miles south of Algiers.
One night earlier, 10 people were killed by suspected fundamentalists ona farm in the same province.
In one of the most deadly raids early in November more than 30 people, includingone newlywed woman killed in her bed, were killed one by one by having theirthroats slit.
A further 12, including four women and three children, died one week laterin the tiny village of Douar Ben-Salah where they were dragged from theirhomes to die.
French authorities Friday were investigating possible involvement of theGIA in a bomb attack this week in Paris on a commuter train in which threepeople were killed and 94 wounded.
Algerian fundamentalists were blamed for similar bombings last year in Francein which eight people were killed and more than 160 wounded. The Islamistsaccuse France, Algeria's former colonial master, of supporting the authorities.
``France fights Muslims, that's why we maintain the same attitude towardthis country as our predecessors, the emirs of the GIA,'' the French newspaperLiberation this week quoted GIA leader Antar Zouabri as writing in Septemberin the clandestine Al Jamaar newsletter.
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