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DATE=6/25/98
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-234538
TITLE=ALGERIA MASSACRES (L)
BYLINE=SCOTT BOBB
DATELINE=CAIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT: 
INTRO:  ONE OF ALGERIA'S BEST-KNOWN SINGERS, LOUNES MATOUB, HAS 
BEEN KILLED NEAR HIS HOME VILLAGE, ACCORDING TO SECURITY FORCES. 
MR. MATOUB, WHO SURVIVED A KIDNAPPING IN 1994, WAS ONE OF THE 
LATEST VICTIMS IN THE RECENT WAVE OF VIOLENCE.  SECURITY FORCES 
SAY REBELS HAVE KILLED 17 PEOPLE AND WOUNDED FIVE OTHERS IN AN 
ATTACK DURING THE NIGHT (EDS: OF WEDNESDAY) ON A VILLAGE 
SOUTHWEST OF ALGIERS.  CORRESPONDENT SCOTT BOBB REPORTS FROM OUR 
MIDDLE EAST BUREAU IN CAIRO THAT IT IS THE THIRD SUCH MASSACRE IN
THE PAST TEN DAYS.
TEXT:  ALGERIAN SECURITY FORCES SAID THURSDAY IN A STATEMENT THAT
AN INTENSE HUNT IS UNDERWAY FOR THE REBELS WHO ATTACKED THE 
VILLAGE OF HAMMAR EL-HES NEAR THE TOWN OF SAIDA, THREE HUNDRED 
KILOMETERS SOUTHWEST OF THE CAPITAL.  THE STATEMENT ADDED THAT 
THE VICTIMS WERE KILLED IN A COWARDLY FASHION, A TERM UNDERSTOOD 
TO MEAN THAT THEIR THROATS WERE CUT.
LESS THAN ONE WEEK AGO, 14 PEOPLE WERE REPORTEDLY KILLED IN A 
SIMILAR ATTACK ON A VILLAGE IN TISSEMSILT PROVINCE, 170 
KILOMETERS SOUTHWEST OF ALGIERS.  TEN DAYS AGO, 13 PEOPLE DIED IN
AN ATTACK ON A HAMLET IN THE MEDEA AREA, 70 KILOMETERS OUTSIDE 
THE CAPITAL.
MEANWHILE, NEWS AGENCIES IN ALGERIA SAY GOVERNMENT FORCES KILLED 
23 PEOPLE, INCLUDING 18 MILITANTS AND FIVE CIVILIANS, IN AN 
OFFENSIVE IN SIDI LANTRI, 250 KILOMETERS SOUTHWEST OF ALGIERS.
ALGERIAN NEWSPAPERS SAY THE LATEST WAVE OF VIOLENCE HAS KILLED AN
ESTIMATED 260 PEOPLE IN THE PAST FEW WEEKS.
ALGERIA HAS BEEN IN A VIRTUAL CIVIL WAR SINCE 1992, WHEN THE 
MILITARY CANCELLED NATIONAL ELECTIONS IN WHICH ISLAMIC MILITANTS 
HELD A WIDE LEAD.  JOURNALISTS ESTIMATE 60,000 PEOPLE HAVE DIED 
IN THE VIOLENCE SINCE THEN.  MANY OF THEM HAVE BEEN OFFICIALS AND
PROMINENT MEMBERS OF SOCIETY. BUT IN RECENT YEARS, THE VIOLENCE 
HAS FOCUSED INCREASINGLY ON RURAL POOR, LIVING IN REMOTE VILLAGES
FAR FROM THE MAIN CITIES.  (SIGNED)
NEB/SB/KL/GE
25-Jun-98 12:33 PM EDT (1633 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.