Algerian feminist gunned down

Algiers - The president of a feminist group was assassinated yesterday in Algeria's northern Berber region, as a wave of killings targeted prominent figures. Nabila Diahnine was shot dead near her home in Tizi- Ouzou, 65 miles east of Algiers, said officials of her association, Tigri- net-nettouth (Cry of Women). Suspicion fell on Muslim militants waging a three-year campaign to topple the military-backed government.

Ms Diahnine, a 35-year-old architect, was the first head of a women's group killed in the Kabylie region, home to the ethnic Berber population. Berbers, a more moderate and pro-democratic group, are virulently opposed to the fundamentalist movement and critical of the government. Reuter