An intensification of terrorist hostilities has become the rule throughout Algeria. It is but the latest wave of violence that has been sweeping the nation for the last five years, where Islamic insurgency has claimed more than 40,000 lives.

Car bombings have become nearly daily events. But, they are not the only horrific methods used to make a point, instill fear and give cause for the general population to lose faith in the government's ability to contain the terrorists.

In mid-January [1997], just south of Algiers, the throats of 14 villagers were slit. Some were completely decapitated, their heads then put upon stakes for public viewing.

Algerian terrorist insurgency began in January 1992, when the government canceled elections the Islamic Salvation Front was poised to win.

A constitutional change banning political parties based on religious conviction was recently enacted, in an effort to crush the insurgents' presumed motivation.