Henry Tessier, Algiers’ archbishop addressed a letter to the French paper, Le Monde defending the military who have been accused by some French figures of being responsible of the assassination of three monks of Tibherine near the city of Medea in 1996.
Quoted in El Khabar daily, Tessier told Le monde that all the information he has gathered confirms that an Islamist militant group is the responsible of the assassination of the monks.
Human right groups and activists have charged that some of the massacres carried out in Algeria have been plotted by certain parties in the army.
Meanwhile, El Khabar reported that a human rights activist has been arrested in Oran’s airport after a visit to France where he had talks with the Federation Internationale Droits de l’Homme (FIDH).
Mohamed Smain has defended the families of disappeared persons, a category of persons usually close to the Islamist, said the paper.
Violence in the North African country has claimed the lives of more than 100,000 people since its outbreak in 1992.
In that year, the military interfered to end a massive parliamentary election victory by the Islamic Salvation Front – Albawaba.com
