Cherif Gousmi was eventually succeeded by Djamel Zitouni as GIA head . Zitouni extended the GIA 's attacks on civilians to French soil , beginning with the hijacking of Air France Flight 8969 at the end of December 1994 and continuing with several bombings and attempted bombings throughout 1995 . It is thought Zitouni hoped to undermine the FIS by proving its irrelevance to the outcome of the war , and to induce the French government to withdraw support from the Algerian government to put a stop to the terrorism . But by eliminating the FIS as a factor the campaign also suggested to outsiders in America and Europe that the " only force capable of stopping the terrorists " was the Algerian government . In any case , in France the GIA attacks created a backlash of fear of young Muslim immigrants joining the campaign . The campaign was a major fault line dividing the insurgents . The GIA " exalted in the enthusiasm of the disinherited " poor young Algerian men every time " the former colonial power " was attacked , while the FIS leaders abroad struggled to persuade " the governments of Europe and the United States " that Islamic FIS government would " guarantee social order and expand the market economy " in Algeria
Air France Flight 8969
Air France Flight 8969
Algerian Civil War