|
Chalabi Network
The "Chalabi network" was the name given to a French Islamist network led by Mohamed Chalabi that supported the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) during the Algerian Civil War in the 1990s. A total of 138 suspected members of the group were subject to a controversial mass trial that took place from September 1998 to January 1999 following police raids in 1994 and 1995, with charges of "criminal association with a terrorist enterprise"; in the end 87 people were convicted. Arrests and trial The 138 suspects tried in 1998 were arrested in two mass-arrests, the first in November 1994 when 93 people were arrested in a single day, and on 25 June 1995 when 131 people were arrested in five different cities across France. The highly controversial trial was held in a prison gymnasium on the outskirts of Paris because of a lack of space in the central court house. 120 lawyers and 300 police took part in the trial which was described as the largest in France in 50 years. The trial was heavily criticis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Armed Islamic Group
The Armed Islamic Group (GIA, from ; ) was one of the two main Islamist insurgent groups that fought the Algerian government and army in the Algerian Civil War. It was created from smaller armed groups following the 1992 military coup and arrest and internment of thousands of officials in the Islamist Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) party after that party won the first round of parliamentary elections in December 1991. It was led by a succession of ''amirs'' (commanders) who were killed or arrested one after another. Unlike the other main armed groups, the Mouvement Islamique Armé (MIA) and later the Islamic Salvation Army (AIS), in its pursuit of an Islamic state the GIA sought not to pressure the government into concessions but to destabilise and overthrow it, to "purge the land of the ungodly". Kepel, ''Jihad'', 2002: p.260, 266 Its slogan inscribed on all communiques was: "no agreement, no truce, no dialogue". GIA's ideology was inspired by the Jihadist writings of the E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Algerian Civil War
The Algerian Civil War (), known in Algeria as the Black Decade (, ), was a civil war fought between the Algerian government and various Islamist rebel groups from 11 January 1992 (following a 1992 Algerian coup d'état, coup negating an Islamist electoral victory) to 8 February 2002. The war began slowly, as it initially appeared the government had successfully crushed the Islamist movement, but armed groups emerged to declare jihad and by 1994, violence had reached such a level that it appeared the government might not be able to withstand it. By 1996–97, it had become clear that the Islamist resistance had lost its popular support, although fighting continued for several years after.#GKJTPI2002, Kepel, ''Jihad'', 2002: p.255 The war has been referred to as 'the dirty war' (''la sale guerre''), and saw extreme violence and brutality used against civilians.#GKJTPI2002, Kepel, ''Jihad'', 2002: p.254 List of Algerian assassinated journalists, Islamists targeted journalists, ov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1995 France Bombings
A series of attacks targeted public transport systems in Paris and Lyon, as well as a school in Villeurbanne, in 1995. They were carried out by the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria (GIA), who sought to expand the Algerian Civil War to France. The attacks killed eight people, all during the first attack on 25 July. The attack also injured 190 people. The assassination of Abdelbaki Sahraoui, a co-founder of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), was a prelude to the extension of the Islamists' terrorist campaign in France."Rachid Ramda jugé pour l'ultime procès des attentats de 1995", in ''Libération'', 1 October 200read on-line Attacks On 25 July 1995 a gas bottle exploded in the Saint-Michel station of line B of the RER metropolitan train system in Paris. Emergency service vehicles then used Place Saint-Michel and the surrounding bridges and streets to attend the scene, while Parvis Notre-Dame became a helicopter landing site and a nearby café, ''Le depart Saint-Michel'', was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1998 World Cup Terror Plot
From March to May 1998, a terror plot against the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France was uncovered by European law enforcement agencies. More than 100 people were arrested in seven countries as a result of the plot, although only some of them were tried or convicted. Organised by the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria (GIA) and backed by al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the plot is thought to have targeted the England–Tunisia match on 15 June 1998, and involved infiltrating the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille in order to attack players and spectators during the game, attack the hotel in Paris hosting the United States national team, and finally hijacking an aircraft and crashing it into the Civaux Nuclear Power Plant near Poitiers. Raids and arrests The original suspect of the plot was French-Algerian Farid Melouk, who had previously been sentenced ''in absentia'' to seven years in prison in France for his connection to the 1995 Paris Métro and RER bombings. Melouk had reportedly bee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Counterterrorism In France
Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to combat or eliminate terrorism and violent extremism. If an act of terrorism occurs as part of a broader insurgency (and insurgency is included in the definition of terrorism) then counterterrorism may additionally employ counterinsurgency measures. The United States Armed Forces uses the term "foreign internal defense" for programs that support other countries' attempts to suppress insurgency, lawlessness, or subversion, or to reduce the conditions under which threats to national security may develop. History The first counterterrorism body to be formed was the Special Irish Branch of the Metropolitan Police, later renamed the Special Branch after it expanded its scope beyond its original focus on Fenian terrorism. Various law enforcement ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
