Algerian Human Rights League President Killed
The president of the Algerian Human Rights League, a critic of both sides in the nation’s political violence, was assassinated Saturday at his office in central Algiers, police said.
Witnesses said several men entered the office of Yousef Fathallah, 64, then escaped after one shot him with a silencer-equipped pistol.
Police provided no information about the killers. There was no claim of responsibility.
Fathallah, a retired lawyer, was elected head of the Human Rights League in 1991. The independent association has criticized abuses by both sides in the two-year conflict pitting Muslim fundamentalist insurgents against security forces of the army-backed government.
Fathallah was an outspoken critic of political violence and not afraid of challenging the government.
Dozens of human rights activists, intellectuals, politicians, journalists and other prominent Algerians have been killed in an assassination campaign by Islamic militants seeking to topple the army-backed government.
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