In a region 350 kilometers west of Algiers, government authorities rounded up 25 people on charges of forming cells for supporting terrorists. However, in 2003 violence in Algeria blamed on radical Islamic groups sharply declined, due to the increasing efficiency of security forces and divisions among the terrorists. Less than 900 people (including 420 described as terrorists) were killed in incidents attributed to the extremists, compared to a total of 1,400 deaths in 2002 and 1,900 in 2001. More importantly, there have been no major attacks reported in the capital and other major cities for more than a year. - Adam Geibel