Boualem Bensaïd (; born in

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

) is an Algerian member of

GIA ''Gia'' is a 1998 American biographical drama television film about the life and times of one of the first supermodels, Gia Carangi. The film stars Angelina Jolie as Gia and Faye Dunaway as Wilhelmina Cooper, with Mercedes Ruehl and Elizab ...

, an Islamic terrorist organization. He has been accused of an attempted bombing during the 1995 terror campaign in France. Born in Algeria in 1967, a sport teacher, he entered clandestinity around 1990. He went back to France in 1994, as Algeria was in full-scale

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. In 1999, he was sentenced to 10 years of prison on charges of "''association de malfaiteurs''".Boualem Bensaïd présente le GIA comme une "organisation politique non criminelle"
''

Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

'', 4 November 2003, mirrored by Algeria Watch On 27 November 2003 he was sentenced in appeal to life detention, with a 22-year "safety sentence" (which prevents the detainee from being liberated for good conduct), on charges of having attempted to bomb the

TGV The TGV (; , , 'high-speed train') is France's intercity high-speed rail service. With commercial operating speeds of up to on the newer lines, the TGV was conceived at the same period as other technological projects such as the Ariane 1 rocke ...

Lyon-Paris on 26 August 1995. At the sentence, he exclaimed "

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

is great!

Allah akbar The ''takbīr'' (, , ) is the name for the Arabic phrase ' (, , ).Wensinck, A.J., "Takbīr", in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Consulted online on 09 ...

! ("God is great!" in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

), it is a miserable decision!". The appeal court thus confirmed the judgement given by the First Special Criminal Court. A prisoner since his arrest in 1995,French police claim victory over bombers
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', November 3, 1995 Bensaïd is serving two more sentences of 10 years and 30 years for other charges related to the terrorist attacks of 1995.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bensaid, Boualem 1967 births Living people People from Algiers Armed Islamic Group of Algeria members Islamic terrorism in France 21st-century Algerian people

See also

References