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Algerian Authorities Track Nationals Fighting in Syria

As more foreign Islamists travel to Syria to fight alongside rebels, the Algerian authorities are taking steps to track their nationals and stop this, writes Kaci Racelma.
Members of Islamist Syrian rebel group Jabhat al-Nusrain hold a detainee as they transport him in Raqqa province, eastern Syria, March 14, 2013. REUTERS/Hamid Khatib (SYRIA - Tags: CONFLICT POLITICS) - RTR3EZGD

Tunisia has sent more than 3,500 jihadists to Syria to fight against the forces of President Bashar al-Assad. Now Algeria is taking its turn in the limelight for recruiting fighters. However, unlike in Tunisia, where authorities are well aware of the difficulties in “controlling the population movement,” the Algerian government has been campaigning against this phenomenal scourge that seems more like the “death trade.”

In Syria, the situation is going from bad to worse. While the rhetoric of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) takes a nationalist approach, seeking to topple Assad’s regime in order to establish a democratic system that would live up to the sacrifices that have already been made, other Islamist armed groups seek to draw the public’s attention to Shariah. The best-known proponent of this concept is Jabhat al-Nusra, whose hard-core militants are fighting in the name of Islam.

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