Hurt, But Not Yet Beaten

摘要

Algeria's most-wanted man was all smiles and hugs for everyone when we met in an orange grove west of Algiers. I had expected to meet a few lower-ranking guerrillas. But even in the faint moonlight, I recognized Ahmed Benaicha from the wanted posters pasted on walls all over Algeria. As the western commander of the rebel Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), he has an $80,000 bounty on his head. Although the nearest government checkpoint was only half a mile away, the stout, 43-year-old sheik radiated the serene confidence of a man who knows he's safe. "We control this land," he said with a chuckle. "It's the military who are scared, not us."