On May 6, the Algerian daily Liberte quoted security sources as saying that five Algerians have completed training as Al Qaida suicide bombers, Middle East Newsline reported. The newspaper said the Algerians were expected to target vital sites in the North African country.

"They pose five serious threats to security as long as they are not neutralized," Liberte said. "Brainwashed and well-trained, they have joined the terrorists in the field."

The recruitment was said to have been conducted by an Al Qaida network in El Oued near the border with Tunisia. The sources said the recruitment and training began in 2004 and also sent operatives to Iraq.

The five would-be suicide bombers received training in an Al Qaida camp in Shine in El Oued. The sources said the five have already recorded their last will and testament.

The security sources said Al Qaida has prepared for a sustained offensive against Algeria. They said the April 11 suicide operations that killed 33 people in Algiers would be followed by similar attacks, including those against the nation's huge energy sector.

The Al Qaida suicide bombings were said to have divided the movement in Algeria. The London-based Al Hayat daily reported on Tuesday that Al Qaida commander Abdul Malik Dourkdel opposed the suicide attacks, saying that his movement never sought to target innocent Muslims.

The newspaper said Islamic insurgents adopted suicide bombings in wake of the merger of the Salafist Brigade for Combat and Call with Al Qaida in September 2006. Al Hayat quoted senior Algerian insurgents as rejecting Al Qaida operations in Afghanistan and Iraq as a model for the North African state.