A top intelligence figure in Algeria died on Thursday morning after a long illness, stirring jubilant reactions among Al-Qa’ida supporters.
Isma’il Al-‘Amari was still working until late Wednesday afternoon when he fell ill and was rushed to hospital where he died, Algerian Prime Minister ‘Abd Al-‘Aziz Belkhadem said.
He headed Algeria’s department of Counter-Espionage and Internal Security after the 1992 elections, and was second in command of the intelligence force, which operated against Islamist fighters in Algeria.
An Islamist uprising began in 1992 resulting in the deaths of more than 100,000 people in a decade of violence.
He is said to have been one of the engineers of a truce between the Algerian army and the Islamic Salvation Army, the armed wing of an outlawed Islamist party in Algeria, convincing them to give up their fight in exchange for an amnesty.
An Al-Qa’ida website expressed joy over Al-‘Amari’s death. One writer on the website of Al-Qa’ida in the Islamic Maghreb labeled him one of the pillars of tyranny in Algeria.