PROFILE : AL-QAEDA IN NORTH AFRICA !

The al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb has evolved out of the most feared Algerian militant group, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC).
Created in the late 1990s with the aim of establishing an Islamic state in the former French colony, the GPSC waged a campaign of violence after the 1992 annulment of elections which Islamic groups were poised to win.
Some 150,000 died in more than a decade of insurgency but by early last year, its military capacity had been hit by the security forces and it was confined to the mountains east of the capital, Algiers.
It rejected an amnesty being offered by the Algerian government and in September the Islamist group joined forces with al-Qaeda, taking the new name in January.
News of its rebirth was greeted by al-Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri as "a source of chagrin, frustration and sadness" for Algeria's authorities.
Their leader is Abou Mossab Abdelwadoud, a former university science student and famous bomb maker

Bombings stir Mid-East press

Following the devastating suicide attacks in the capital, the prime minister has warned the bombers want to take Algeria back to "the years of hardship".
Indeed, in the last few months the group has made its mark, targeting buses in Algiers carrying foreign workers from an affiliate of the US company Halliburton in December and a bus carrying Russian workers in March.
Six people were killed and 13 injured in seven explosions outside police stations in the eastern Kabylia region in February and 33 Algerian soldiers are reported to have lost their lives this month.
Regional ambitions
Other incidents across the Maghreb point to the group's possible regional ambitions.

This group trained in Algeria and have learned their techniques from Iraq as well as in Afghanistan
Mohamed Ben-Madani Maghreb analyst
In January, 12 people were shot dead by the security forces in Tunisia near the small town of Solimane south of the capital Tunis.
The authorities initially described their adversaries as criminals but later admitted that the men were Islamic militants with connections to the GSPC.
Meanwhile, in Morocco, the security forces are on high alert after three suicide bombers blew themselves up on Tuesday.
Maghreb analyst Mohamed Ben-Madani says the militants have also been active in Mauritania, which has angered Islamists because of its links with Israel.
"This group trained in Algeria and have learned their techniques from Iraq as well as in Afghanistan. It's very hard to contain this group which has become more and more violent," he says.
Roots
Their leader is Abou Mossab Abdelwadoud, a former university science student and famous bomb maker in his thirties, who took over in 2004.

Mokhtar Belmokhtar is known as the "one-eyed".
Another leading member is Mokhtar Belmokhtar, known as the "one-eyed", a former soldier who followed the familiar route for radical young Muslims and went to fight in Afghanistan.
He leads the Saharan faction of the group and has organised the importing of arms for the underground network from Niger and Mali.
Since the rise of al-Qaeda globally, security experts have warned that the Sahara's wide open spaces and porous borders make it a haven for militant groups.
The group is thought to have between 600 to 800 fighters spread throughout Algeria and Europe.
But during last year's six-month reconciliation amnesty, dozens of Islamists who were freed from Algerian prisons have returned to their armed uprising.
The Arabic word "Salafist" means fundamentalist, in the sense of going back to the original texts of Islam.
The GSPC grew out of another of Algeria's leading militant groups, the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), and together the groups are blamed for some 150,000 deaths since 1992.
Two years ago, deputy GSPC leader Amari Saifi was sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping 32 European tourists in 2003.
The former paratrooper was captured by Chadian rebels in mysterious circumstances and passed on to Libya before standing trial in Algeria.

BBC NEWS REPORT.