Algerian dissidents claim massacre

Dissident Algerian soldiers have accused the army of killing forty-seven officers serving jail terms.

The soldiers -- members of the Algerian Movement for Free Officers MAOL -- said in a statement, that the soldiers were killed on the orders of two generals in a barracks south of Algiers on Sunday.

The movement said they'd refused to take part in what they called crimes against civilians. It said the officers who had been jailed for their political views had been tortured for many years. The group accuses the Algerian high command of carrying out killings which are often attributed to Islamic rebels.

Meanwhile, the army chief, General Mohamed Lamari, has said claims made in a recent book that the army has been carrying out massacres were aimed at destabilising the security forces.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service