FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION LISTING - ARMED

S E C R E T ALGIERS 000793 NOFORN FOR S/CT - TDROZDENKO E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/14/2033 TAGS: PTER PGOV ASEC PREL KCRM KJUS AG SUBJECT: FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION LISTING - ARMED ISLAMIC GROUP (GIA) REF: SECSTATE 71361 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, a.i. Thomas F. Daughton; reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (S/NF) In response to reftel, according to available information the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) has not been involved in terrorist activity during the period 2003-2008. Algerian sources share GRPO analysis that the GIA no longer has a formal leadership structure; however, they tell us that GIA elements and some of its former leaders are still alive, active and as yet unaffiliated with Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) or Al-Qa'ida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). A large portion of the GIA was absorbed into the GSPC when it was founded in 1998 in an attempt to steer away from the stigma associated with the GIA's practice of indiscriminate killing. The GSPC distanced itself from the GIA's tactics in an effort to regain the support not only of the Algerian population, but also of international terrorist groups. Some GSPC elements subsequently allied with Al-Qa'ida in 2006 to form AQIM. ¶2. (S/NF) Although liaison contacts share our assessment that the GIA per se has not been responsible for any acts of terrorism during the period 2003-2008 and that it currently lacks a formal structure, they also believe that de-listing the GIA would be premature, given the fact that former GIA elements are still unreconciled and unaffiliated. Evidence suggests that many if not all of the former GIA members who continue to conduct terrorist activities have "rebranded" themselves and are doing so as part of GSPC/AQIM rather than as GIA. From our conversations with GOA contacts as well as our own assessment, we conclude that de-listing the GIA at this time would be premature and could have a negative effect on our relationship with host country services, as it would not be consistent with their assessment of the GIA. DAUGHTON