27/01/2009 (Agence Europe) - More than 40 terrorists belonging to al Qaeda in the Land of Maghreb (AQIM, formerly the GSPC) were recently killed in the Tizi Ouzou province of Algeria, UK daily The Sun reported on 19 January. It claims that their death was due to infection with a strain of bubonic plague, better known as the “black death”, which killed millions in the Middle Ages. On the same day, the Washington Times, basing their report on revelations from a US intelligence official, said that the deaths were due rather to an abortive attempt to develop chemical or biological weapons. Algerian authorities, who have said that the deaths were due to “the plague”, have yet to make a statement on the intelligence revelations carried by the US daily. (B.C./transl.rt)