Abdelhak Layada also known as Abu Adlane, was one of the founders of Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

's militant Islamist group Armed Islamic Group

Armed Islamic Group

The Armed Islamic Group is an Islamist organisation that wants to overthrow the Algerian government and replace it with an Islamic state...

 (GIA) during the Algerian Civil War

Algerian Civil War

The Algerian Civil War was an armed conflict between the Algerian government and various Islamist rebel groups which began in 1991. It is estimated to have cost between 150,000 and 200,000 lives, in a population of about 25,010,000 in 1990 and 31,193,917 in 2000.More than 70 journalists were...

, and led it after the death of Mohamed Allel ("Moh Leveilly").

He declared his group independent of the existing Islamic Armed Movement (MIA) in January 1993. He was arrested in Morocco and handed over to the Algerian authorities on 29 September 1993. He was sentenced to death in June 1995. He claims to regret the killing of innocent civilians for which the GIA became notorious, blaming it on his successors who controlled the GIA while he was in prison.

Layada was released from prison on 12 March 2006 under president Abdelaziz Bouteflika's

Abdelaziz Bouteflika

Abdelaziz Bouteflika is the ninth President of Algeria. He has been in office since 1999. He continued emergency rule until 24 February 2011, and presided over the end of the bloody Algerian Civil War in 2002...

 "Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation

Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation

The Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation was a charter proposed by Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, in an attempt to bring closure to the Algerian Civil War by offering an amnesty for most violence committed in it...

". He now lives in his previous home in Baraki

Baraki, Algeria

Baraki is a suburb of the city of Algiers in northern Algeria....

, not far south of Algiers

Algiers

' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...

.