Abdelmalek Droukdel, leader of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb
(AQIM), and eight co-defendants were sentenced to death for premeditated
murder, membership of a terrorist group and attacks using explosives, said
judge Tayeb Hillali of the court in Algiers.
They were among 18 people, nine of whom were absent, put on trial
for three bomb attacks in Algiers
on April 11, 2007 that
killed 20 people and wounded 222.
The first attack saw a bomber drive an explosives-laden car into
a guard post outside the government headquarters housing the prime minister's
office in central Algiers, killing
12 people and injuring 135.
Minutes later, bombers driving two cars triggered explosions in
the eastern suburb of Bab Ezzouar, on the road to the international airport and
not far from one of Algeria's
largest universities.
A fourth attack was thwarted when security officers defused a
car bomb, according to court documents in the trial that opened on March 14, 2011.
Droukdel, a 41-year-old engineer by training whose alias is Abou
Moussaab Abdelouadoud, fought in Afghanistan
and is said to consider as his mentor Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born
Al-Qaeda leader in Iraq
killed by the US
military in 2006.
He arrived at the head of what was then called the Salafist
Group for Preaching and Combat in 2004, muscling his way in by brutally eliminating
rivals. The group has since changed its name.
He is seen by experts as a ruthless chief who introduced suicide
bombings in Algeria.
Having learned about explosives during his military service,
Droukdel has put together "suicide commandos" whose members are
completely committed to him, experts say.
The fighters' bedside reading is believed to include a military
text written by their leader.
The other eight people sentenced were Abdessalam Samir, Ait Said
Salem, Ait Said Meziane, Ziani Said, Ghiatou Rabah, Chemini Toufic, Niche
Djamel and Bou Djalki Abderrahmane.
Lawyers for the other nine accused sought an adjournment of
their trial arguing that four of them had pulled out and that a fifth lawyer
was absent, but the court turned down their request.
"We withdrew because the registrar illegally refused to
accept our appeal against the adjournment, and the judge did not order him to
oblige, said one of the lawyers, Amine Sidhom.
The judge said he was "not competent to decide on such
administrative procedures".
Another lawyer, Ali Zouita, told AFP
his client objected to his legal representation and that he was therefore
quitting.
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