When he returned to Algeria in 1993, the country was already in the throes of conflict after the French-backed Algerian military annulled elections that the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) was poised to win.

BBC: Profile: Mokhtar Belmokhtar

The MB's presidential candidate adds that they the freedom they enjoyed under Mubarak reached its peak in the 90's until Algeria's militant Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) won more that 50% of votes in elections and a threatened Mubarak reacted by arresting some of the Brotherhood's leadership.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Egypt: Radicalizing the Political Bargain Part I

Then in the 1970s and 1980s Islamic terrorist groups (Al Jihad and Gamaa Islamiya in Egypt, Front for National Salvation (FIS) in Algeria etc.) began appearing in the Middle East and South Asia, especially after the beginning of the Soviet war in Afghanistan.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Alexiev testifies on Wahhabi influence in US