/ 29 January 2001

ALGERIAN REBELS MASSACRE VILLAGERS

ALGERIAN rebels have slashed the throats of 25 villagers, including 16 children and teenagers and four women, in the worst massacre in Algeria this year. The massacre occurred at El Guetaibia village, 220km west of Algiers, on Saturday night, and brought the number of people killed in Algeria to more than 90 this month. More than 100_000 people have died in violence which has racked the country since early 1992 following the cancellation of elections in which radical Islamists had taken a commanding lead. – Reuters