A Portrait of Abderrazzak al-Para: GSPC’s Mystery Man in the Maghreb

Abderrazzak el-Para

Amari Saifi, better known as Abderrezak al-Para (The Parachutist), was a rising star in the Algerian Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, GSPC (Groupe Salafiste pour la Prédication et le Combat). However, his path as an Islamist militant leader was cut short when he was apprehended by anti-government rebels in Chad and handed over to the Algerian authorities via Libya in November 2004. To this day, he is yet to appear publicly before a court of law, fueling allegations that he might have been a double agent involved in false flag operations planted by the government inside the GSPC (now al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb-AQIM), a view which is plausible but with which this author does not agree.