Algerian Official Assassinated

A member of the ruling National Transition Council was fatally shot Friday, Algerian TV reported.

Arezki Oukid, 71, was the fifth council member to be assassinated since Islamic fundamentalist militants launched an insurgency against the military-backed government in 1992.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the assassination, but suspicion fell on Islamic militants.

The insurgency began after the government canceled legislative elections that fundamentalists were winning. The government dissolved the Parliament and installed the National Transition Council.

More than 30,000 people have died in the insurgency.