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| Terror Networks |
| Zouabri: The obituary |
| 2002-02-14 |
Zouabriâs fatwa led to a particularly gruesome series of massacres and mass rapes. He permitted the rape of âinfidelâ women and girls as âspoils of war.â Women were kidnapped and taken to remote mountain strongholds, where they were treated as slaves, raped by Zouabriâs followers, and forced to cook and clean for them. Yet despite their extremism and sadistic violence, Zouabri and his followers enjoyed support among minor and quasi-clerics such as London-based fundamentalist Omar Abu Omar (a.k.a. Abu Qutada), who issued a fatwa of his own in support of Zouabriâs group, entitled An Authorization to Kill Young Boys. Antar Zouabri managed to impose his authority on all Algerian armed groups. He surrounded himself with a well-trained coterie of bodyguards, named Al-Katiba Al-Khadra Â- The Green Battalion - for which he chose the most ruthless GIA members. Thanks to the Green Battalion, Zouabri managed to evade capture by the authorities. It was widely thought Zouabri was killed during a raid launched by the security forces against the GIAâs major stronghold at Hatatba in July 1997. The authorities had learned that Zouabri intended to hold a large meeting with more than 200 senior GIA cadres at his Tala Acha mountain headquarters. The Algerian Army sent in almost 1,000 troops supported by artillery and helicopters in an attempt to apprehend Zouabri and his henchmen. The operation lasted a whole week and resulted in the destruction of the GIAâs strongholds in Metidja. Seventy extremists were killed. Soon afterward, Zouabri declared in a statement sent to Moroccoâs Medi 1 radio station that he was alive. Despite being forced to retreat from his home province of Metidja,  Zouabriâs influence wasnât diminished. Accompanied by his Green Battalion, he headed westward, toward the mountains of Ouarchanis, where he joined up with two local groups originally allied with the GIA,  the Ketibet-al-Ahwal, and the Salafist group. Zouabriâs westward trek resulted in an infamous series of bloody massacres beginning in Ramadan 1998. Despite being named the countryâs most wanted fugitive, and despite a 4.5 million Algerian dinar ($65,000) price on his head, Zouabri still managed to elude capture  thanks mainly to the 100-strong Green Battalion that accompanied him wherever he went. Zouabri thus remained at large until last week. Thanks to information provided by a GIA defector, who said Zouabri was holed up in a house in a poor area in his hometown of Boufarik, together with his lieutenant Fodhil Boutheldja (a.k.a. Abu Haider). Acting on this tip-off, Algerian Army units surrounded the area. Special forces units broke into the house, killing Zouabri, Abu Haider, and a third man who later turned out to be Abdel-Hakim Boumediene, also known as Sinbad, one of the GIA leaders who had laid down their weapons and "renounced violence." Experts on Algerian groups donât believe the GIA will wither away with the demise of Antar Zouabri. Zouabriâs death will spark a new struggle for leadership, which will be characterized by liquidations and internal squabbles. All this will be played out against a backdrop of even more violence, massacres and terrorism, as the GIA seeks to âreassureâ its supporters that it is still there. Otherwise, dispirited cadres might either give themselves up to the authorities, or join up with Hassan Hattabâs rival Groupe Salafiste pour la Predication et le Combat (GSPC). The battle for leadership will be fought among five factions  namely, the Green Battalion; the Al-Ansar Battalion; the Ethabat Battalion in Mascara; the Essouna Battalion in Sidi Belabes; and Al-Ahwal which is strong in Relizane. In addition to the various factions (or battalions) making up the GIA, other armed groups will also seek to benefit from Zouabriâs death. It cannot be ruled out that the GSPC and the western-based GPS will try to exploit the disappearance from the scene of Zouabri by trying to co-opt GIA defectors or by making alliances with any future GIA leader who decides to adopt a less bloody and more moderate approach than Zouabri. Who that future leader will be is still unknown. Thanks to Zouabriâs penchant for murdering any potential rival within GIA ranks, all the leaders of the first generation have already been killed off. This will make finding a successor that much more difficult. Nevertheless, the most likely candidate for leadership is Miloud Bechroun, âprinceâ of Tipaza (a.k.a. Khaled al-Fermache), a particularly extreme and bloodthirsty man notorious for perpetrating a grisly series of massacres in his region in Ramadan 1998. Who were those Euroweenies who were complaining about the use of the word "Evil"? Perhaps they'd like a nice Algerian vacation. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |