Algerian GSPC Renounces Former Leader, Peace Overtures by Algerian Government

By Evan Kohlmann

The Algerian Salafist Group for Prayer and Combat (GSPC)--a regional Al-Qaida affiliate group active in North Africa--has disavowed their former top commander Hassan Hattab (a.k.a. Abu Hamza) after he surrendered to the Algerian government in exchange for limited amnesty. According to a recent statement released by the group, Hattab has been estranged from the GSPC since at least 2003 and his recent actions are considered "a betrayal of Allah, his messenger, the path of jihad, and the blood of the martyrs... we will continue our jihad. It will be either victory or martyrdom.�

Could the surrender of the former GSPC leader possibly herald the end of the longstanding Algerian jihad?  Unfortunately, the answer is probably not.  As I noted in a recent article published in Asia Times, "it is significant that Hassan Hattab has surrendered [apparently] because he was not in favor of using international terrorism as a prime instrument of policy. Those who have succeeded him in the GSPC harbor no such reservations. You might say that Hattab's downfall may ironically serve to remove a previous political roadblock to GSPC-inspired terrorist attacks  in Europe."

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