April 6, 2007:
Police have arrested 120 men as terrorism suspects. These men were not
planning operations in Algeria, but in Iraq. Some of the men had gone to Iraq
to fight for al Qaeda, and survived to come back. But most of those arrested
were recruiting volunteers, or had volunteered but not yet made the trip. The
group also raised money to pay for
transportation. Most of the volunteers who went to Iraq, never made it back.
April 5, 2007: In Mauritania, police arrested three
Algerians and four Mauritanians on terrorism charges. One of those arrested was
in the Mauritanian army. Al Qaeda has
been trying to establish bases in countries like Mauritania, just south of Algeria. The
terrorists have had some success, but have spent all their energy just
surviving. April 4, 2007: For the last
week, several thousand troops, backed by helicopters and fixed wing aircraft,
have conducted sweeps of areas in eastern Algeria, where Islamic terrorists
have been known to have rural camps. So far, about twenty suspects have been
killed, several dozen arrested and as many as 70 forced to flee their camps.
April 2, 2007: Russian weapons salesmen are negotiating a $7 billion deal with
Algeria, to provide T-90 tanks, a modern air defense system and additional
warplanes. March 13, 2007: Two Islamic
terrorists were killed when the roadside bomb they were planting, east of the
capital, went off accidentally.
March 12, 2007:
The American embassy posted a notice that Islamic terrorists might be
trying to put bombs on commercial aircraft carrying Westerners in Algeria.
