Algerian authorities have arrested an alleged Islamist, suspected of having ties to al-Qaeda and accused of recruiting fighters for Iraq, the Arab-language daily El Khabar reported yesterday. The man, whose name was not disclosed, is also accused of helping foreign Islamists join the ranks of Algeria's extremist Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC).
According to El Khabar, the man allegedly served an intermediary between al-Qaeda and Islamists from Arab countries. He is believed to have headed a Syrian-based organisation offering safety to Arabs volunteering to fight in Iraq.
The suspect was allegedly in permanent contact with an accomplice in Algiers who served as middleman with armed Algerian Islamists who wanted to join the insurgency in Iraq. He is also suspected of being tasked by al-Qaeda to help a group of armed Tunisian Islamists join the GSPC's ranks, where they would be trained to use weapons and explosives. The Tunisian Islamists allegedly then planned to return to Tunisia to "open a new war front against the Tunisian regime," the report added.
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