FBIS4-11996 "drnes065_a_94002"
FBIS-NES-94-065 Daily Report 1 Apr 1994
ARAB AFRICA Algeria

FIS Accuses Authorities of `Wave of Killings'

FIS Accuses Authorities of `Wave of Killings' NC0104143894 Paris AFP in English 1426 GMT 1 Apr 94 NC0104143894 Paris AFP English BFN [Text] Paris, April 1 (AFP) -- The banned Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) has accused Algerian authorities of killing more than 200 civilians during anti-terrorist sweeps over the past few days, according to a statement received here Friday. The head of the FIS abroad, Rabah Kebir, who normally lives in Germany, called on international human rights organisations to condemn what he said was a wave of killings. A number of anonymous callers have also phoned AFP in Paris over the past few days to denounce what they say have been "kidnappings" and "killings" by the army. "Amongst the many examples of barbarity (...), one notes over the past few days the assassination of 82 civilians in Blida, south of Algiers, of 120 others between Meftah and Sidi Moussa, east of Algiers," said the statement dated March 31. "Not a day goes by without word of collective killings across the country (...) people are taken from their homes and then assassinated, slaughtered and their bodies abandoned in the streets to create an atmosphere of fear amongst the population," the statement said. Women are also victims of such "institutional terrorism", the statement said, referring to the killing of two women wearing the Islamic veil at Boudaouaou, east of Algiers, on Tuesday. Anonymous telephone callers said they had witnessed the "execution" of at least 10 people Wednesday at Les Eucalyptus, an Islamic fundamentalist stronghold in the southeast suburbs of Algiers. The callers said the 10 were killed in reprisal for the death of 10 soldiers and para-military police caught in an ambush. One caller said he had seen a man deliberately "run over" by a tank on the main street of Les Eucalyptus. Algerian authorities have blamed the FIS for a wave of terrorist attacks in the country since January 1992 when general elections the Islamists were poised to win were annulled.