AQIM Estimated At 300 Members

CAIRO [MENL] -- Algeria has significantly reduced its estimate of the Al Qaida presence.
Algerian Interior Minister Nour Eddine Yazid Zerhouni said the number of insurgents in the Al Qaida Organization in the Islamic Maghreb ranges from 250 to 300. In late 2007, Zerhouni said the intelligence community had estimated that about 800 Islamic insurgents were operating in Algeria.
"The number is not as important as power and ability," Zerhouni said.
[On July 23, an Al Qaida suicide bomber rammed his motorcycle into a truckload of Algerian soldiers in Lakhdaria, 70 kilometers east of Algiers. Algerian media reports said at least 13 soldiers were injured when the explosive-laden motorcycle blew up.]