Groupe Islamiste Arme (GIA), "Armed Islamic Group."

Algeria.

The GIA seeks the overthrow of Algeria's secular government and the establishment of an Islamic state.

Official numbers are unknown. Estimates during the GIA's height ranged between 20,000 and 25,000. Current members probably number closer to 100.

The GIA receives funding from Algerian expatriates and foreign members of another opposition group, Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) (The AQIM was formerly the Salafist Group for Call and Combat, or GSPC). The Italian Mafia is rumored to be the main hardware supplier of the GIA. Sudan and Iran have also been accused of supporting the rebels.

The GIA targets civilians and government employees. Between 1992 and 1998, insurgents killed thousands of civilians, sometimes wiping out entire villages. In 1993, the GIA announced a campaign against foreigners living in Algeria. Since then, it has killed more than 100 foreign men and women -- mostly Europeans.

The GIA was established after the ruling government cancelled the January 1992 final round of elections. Algeria's largest Islamic opposition group -- the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) -- had won the first round of legislative elections, and was also expected to take the final round.

The group was formed by Djamel Zitouni (Abou Aberrahmane Amine), splitting from the FIS over the front's "softer" position. In 1996, Zitouni was killed during infighting that resulted in the GIA splintering into three groups. There have been two competitors competing for the leadership position of the "mainstream" GIA, Miloud Hebbi and Slimane Mehrezi. The second group, known to be particularly brutal, was run by Antar Zouarbi (Abu Talha) until his death in 2002. The third group is led by Mustafa Kertali and known as the Islamic Movement for Preaching and Jihad (MIPJ).

The GIA also operates an independent unit called the Phalanx of Death consisting of several hundred guerrillas based in the mountains in southeast Algeria. The unit's commander, Bekati Rabah (Abdelfattah), was killed by government troops in August 1998 while visiting his family. The current leader is unknown.

The GSPC splinter group appears to have eclipsed the GIA since 1998, and the U.S. State Dept. currently assesses it as Algeria's most effective terrorist group. Both the GIA and GSPC leadership continue to reject the government's amnesty offers. The GSPC has stated that it has curtailed its attacks on civilians. Nevertheless, the GSPC's planned attack against the Paris-Dakar Road Rally in January 2000 demonstrated that the group has not entirely ceased violence against high-profile civilian targets.

GIA leader Nourredine Boudiafi was arrested in a government operation carried out in late 2004 aimed at dismantling the group's support networks near Algiers. By that time, the group had been weakened by infighting and had not claimed responsibility for attacks in several years.

The GIA has largely given way to other groups within Algeria, especially Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). This shift is due to many factors, including a tougher crackdown on terrorism by the government of Algeria as well as an evolving reorganization within the terrorist movement, with a more militantly international jihadist objective gaining strength versus more nationalistic rebel groups.

GIA remnants may still be at large and some members have gravitated elsewhere. The U.S. State Dept. did not report any terrorist incidents attributable to GIA in 2008, and indications are that the last significant attack launched by the group was in 2001. Other observers say the group was active through 2005. While GIA may still claim a following, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) eclipsed the GIA in the late 1990s. Through another reorganization, factions of GSPC later morphed into AQIM.

Three French diplomats were kidnapped by the GIA as they left their apartment in Algiers. A police officer who attempted to prevent the kidnapping was shot and killed. The diplomats were released unharmed later in October.

December: GIA members attacked a work camp of a hydroelectric project in Tamezguida, abducting 14 Croatian citizens. Twelve had their throats slit, while the other two escaped with injuries. On Dec. 16, the Armed Islamic Group claimed responsibility, stating that the attack was part of an ongoing campaign to rid Algeria of all foreigners and to avenge Muslims killed in Bosnia.

August: Five French Embassy employees were killed and one was injured when guerrillas attacked a French residential compound in Algiers.

October: Approximately 30 members of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) attacked an oil base, killing one French and one Italian worker.

December: GIA rebels hijacked an Air France flight in Algeria that landed in Marseilles, France. A French anti-terrorist unit stormed the plane, ending the 54-hour siege in which three hostages were killed by the terrorists. All four terrorists were killed during the rescue.

Within a few days, the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) claimed responsibility for the murders of four Catholic priests. The murders were apparently in retaliation for the deaths of four GIA hijackers in Marseilles.

July: Two assailants assassinated a cofounder of the Algerian Islamic Salvation Front and his bodyguard in a Paris mosque. No one claimed responsibility for the murders. Earlier the same year, Algerian publications reportedly received a communiqué from the Armed Islamic Group listing its priority targets; the victim was among those listed.

July 25: Members of the Armed Islamic Group are believed to have been responsible for the bombing of the Saint Michel Metro station in Paris, which killed eight people and left 87 injured. The attack was carried out with bombs built from domestic gas cylinders filled with nails.

May 21: The group stated that it killed the monks in response to the French government's refusal to negotiate over the release of a GIA official held in a French prison.

August: A GIA-made bomb exploded at the home of the French archbishop of Oran, killing him and his chauffeur.

August: A bomb detonated in a crowded square in Algiers, killing 17 people and wounding 60. Authorities suspected the GIA.

April 15: GIA chose Rachid Oukali as its new leader.

Aug. 12: Algerian Interior Minister Noureddine Zerhouni said the efforts against Islamic separatists had succeeded. "There are still a few isolated groups that continue to attack, but the war is won," he said.

November: GIA leader Boudiafi was captured near Algiers by government security forces. Algerian officials reported that Younef was also killed during 2004 in the northwest city of Chlef.

March 2: The Charter for National Reconciliation amnesty measure took effect.

March 13: Abdelhak Layada, one of the founding leaders of Algeria's Islamic Armed Group (GIA), was awarded amnesty and released from prison. Layada had been sentenced to death in connection with his role in the civil war, in which more than 150,000 people died. He was arrested in Morocco in 1993.

August: Former GIA splinter group leader, Mustafa Kertali, was severely injured in a car bomb blast outside a mosque in Algiers. Kertali was one of the GIA leaders to take advantage of the amnesty measures in 1999.

October: Rachid Ramda, an alleged GIA member, was sentenced to life in prison by a French court for the 1995 Paris metro bombings. He was extradited from England to face trial. Two other men were already serving life sentences for connections with the bombing.

July: The U.S. State Dept.'s latest list of foreign terrorist organizations again included the GIA.

Sept. 6: Algeria, Mali, Mauritania and Niger concluded an anti-terrorism agreement, largely aimed at combating the impact of AQIM.