ALGIERS, Oct. 11 -- The well-known Berber singer Maatoub Lounes, kidnapped by a suspected radical Muslim armed group nearly two weeks ago, has been released, the Algerian Berber Cultural Movement said Tuesday. The Movement said the singer, kidnapped Oct. 1, was freed late Monday in the Berber town of Tizi-Ouzou, 64 miles (100 km) east of Algiers.
The singer's release followed a demonstration in Tizi-Ouzou by more than 50,000 people Sunday, demanding his freedom and threatening retaliation if he was killed. He was the second Algerian singer to be targetted by the militants in their escalating campaign of violence to oust the Algiers government. The first singer was killed in the western city of Oran two weeks ago. More than 10,000 people have been killed in Algeria in guerrilla attacks and in clashes between Muslim fundamentalist armed groups and security forces since the start of the militancy in early 1992, when the military-backed government cancelled legislative elections the Islamic Salvation Front was set to win.
