jlujan69 said:
It seems odd that an Islamic extremist group would be sworn enemies with a pacifist western nation like France. What "beef" do they have with her? She opposes US policy in Iraq and sides more or less against Israel in that particular conflict.
The group quoted in the article wants to overturn the Algerian government, which is supported by the French government.
They think terrorist attacks on our soil would lead us to give up our policies towards Algeria.
The GIA tried in 1994-1995, and it failed, an regularly, GSPC members are arrested and tried for plotting terror attacks.
I don't think the GSPC is a big threat, because, as noted in the article, the GSPC split from the GIA, which was being decimated by the Algerian authorities and internal rivalries.
I think they may get funding and training from Al Qaida, but they're not in the "Global Jihad" business. They only want to seize power in Algeria, and this means fighting countries which support the current government.
Edited to add : some background about the GIA and GSPC from Wikipedia :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algerian_Civil_War