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."