Al Qaida 'kills 29 in Algeria over three months'

Dubai: Al Qaida's north Africa wing said it killed at least 29 members of Algeria's security forces in the past three months, a US-based firm which monitors militant
websites reported on Saturday.

In a statement posted on the internet, the group, which calls itself Al Qaida Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, claimed responsibility for 21 attacks carried out in northern Algeria between September and December, the SITE Intelligence Group said.

The attacks included bombings and ambushes of police and military targets in areas including Bejaia, Constantine and Biskra.

Al Qaida's north Africa wing posted several statements on the Internet last year saying it would not stop its attacks until Algeria was free from French and US influence and what it called the "apostate" Algerian government was removed.

Since adopting the Al Qaida name early in 2007, the group, previously known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), has claimed several attacks, including twin suicide bombings of UN offices and a court building in Algiers in December 2007 which killed 41 people.

An Afghan guard with the shipping firm shot the Briton and the South African and then took his own life, authorities say.

By Laura King
October 26, 2008

Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan -- Security for Westerners in Afghanistan took a sharp turn for the worse Saturday when an Afghan security guard working for the international shipping firm DHL shot dead the company's top two executives in the country before killing himself, authorities said.The early-morning attack, which killed a Briton and a South African, was as symbolic as it was bloody. It targeted a major multinational corporation at a time when Afghanistan is hungry for foreign investment. And it took place in a prosperous district in the heart of the city even as Western military officials are trying to calm fears that Islamic militants are tightening a noose around the capital.

British visa plan to restrict relations - DA

Any move by Britain to impose visa requirements on South Africans wishing to visit that country will have a serious effect on relations between the two countries, according to the DA.

According to reports, British MPs were examining evidence that might lead to such a visa requirement soon, DA foreign affairs spokesperson Tony Leon said.


Source:
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3045&art_id=vn20080207062257224C334331