Out of the war zone but living in fear

DJAMEL Benramdane carries a gun to work every day

DJAMEL Benramdane carries a gun to work every day. His name and the pseudonym he uses were on a death list pinned up in the main mosques around Algiers.

Until his newspaper, La Tribune, was closed by the government last July for publishing a cartoon critical of its policies, he worked as a reporter specialising in stories about Islamic fundamentalist terrorism.

There have been over 50 journalists murdered in Algeria since 1992, when the elections, which the Islamic fundamentalists won were annulled and a military backed government put in power.

"Being on a death list is no big deal in a country where 80,000 people have been killed in just four years," says Djamel (31). "It's difficult to work in Algeria. It's like working in a war zone but you get used to it. You live in fear - everyone does - but you learn to live with it."

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Djamel believes that the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) is responsible for the attack on the Paris underground on Tuesday and believes it was not an isolated incident. "If the GIA managed to carry out one attack it means they are ready to carry out more."

Just over a month ago, the new leader of the GIA, Antar Zouabri (26) vowed to continue the war against France which his predecessor, who was assassinated six months ago, began in 1995. "What we saw this week is his instructions being carried out."

The GIA is the strongest Islamic terrorist group in Algeria, with some 4,000 active members and a network of 10,000 supporters, helping and hiding the militants.

Djamel believes that in a few weeks the GIA will claim responsibility for the attack and declare its demands. There are some 250 Islamists imprisoned in France.

The GIA believes the French government is responsible for keeping the military in Algeria in power.

The last attacks in Paris were also out of revenge for the killing of four GIA members in Marseille two years ago when they hijacked an Air France aircraft, demanding "the release of prisoners in France.

"The GIA are brutal. Their bombs are placed in markets, restaurants and airports. Their victims are men, women and children.

"They often massacre the families of those they are against out of revenge. But that said, the police do the same to them. Practically all the new GIA leader's family have been killed," he says.

The attacks in Algeria and in, France will continue, according to Djamel. "There can be no solution while the military remain in power. There is more and more repression in Algeria and more and more poverty. It is the poverty and repression that is pushing young Algerians into groups like the GIA."