1.   Earlier last year it tightened visa rules for Algerians and withdrew French technical and educational staff living in Algeria, many of whom faced death threats from Algerian militants.

2.   One of the major questions for investigators has been who ordered the plot, which the authorities believe was being carried out by Algerian Islamic militants.

3.   The police said that technicians were still comparing bomb fragments with other materials recently confiscated from suspected collaborators of Algerian militants in France.

4.   Underlining those worries, Algerian militants carried out a virtually unparalleled raid on a border post in neighboring Tunisia last week, killing seven guards.

5.   Until recently, French intelligence believed that Algerian militants received some training in Iran and in the Sudan and some financial support.

6.   Police anti-terrorist units raided a group of suspected Algerian Islamic militants Thursday, exchanging gunfire before settling in for a daylong standoff with one gunman holed up inside.

7.   Police anti-terrorist units surrounded a house in Brussels early Thursday after gunmen believed linked to Algerian Islamic militants opened fire on officers during a pre-dawn raid.

8.   Police arrested two Algerian militants and raided homes in a crackdown on an Algerian opposition group with a base in Germany, authorities said Wednesday.

9.   A suburban train was bombed in December, and Algerian militants are considered likely suspects.

10.   Algerian militants frequently set up false roadblocks to extort money from motorists, but this attack was considered the most deadly in several months.