Life demanded for FIS leaders

Algiers (Reuter) - A military prosecutor demanded life imprisonment for Algeria's Muslim fundamentalist leaders yesterday, accusing them of premeditated revolt against the state. The two men are charged with conspiracy against the state, which carries the death penalty.

Abassi Madani, 61, and his deputy Ali Bel Haj, 35, headed the outlawed Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) which plunged Algeria into a year of violence with a strike in June 1991. Both leaders and five others charged with lesser crimes pleaded not guilty in written statements to the court which they refused to attend, saying it had condemned them in advance.