Algeria Will Offer Amnesty to Rebels

The government will offer an amnesty to rebels and their supporters after the Islamic Salvation Army’s decision to end its guerrilla struggle, a statement from President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s office said.

The Islamic Salvation Army, or AIS, one of several rebel groups in the North African country, said earlier that it has decided definitively to renounce its guerrilla struggle against the government.

Bouteflika, who has said that restoring peace to Algeria is his first priority, swiftly awarded the rebels and their supporters with a promise of amnesty.

The group, believed to number about 2,000 seasoned fighters, is the armed wing of the outlawed Islamic Salvation Front, or FIS, which was once Algeria’s main radical opposition party.