FACTBOX: Key facts on Algerian Islamist group

(Reuters) - Bombs killed 30 people in Algeria's capital on Wednesday, attacks claimed by the Al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb according to an Al Jazeera television report.

Here are some key facts on the rebels, formerly the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat.

* The GSPC, as it was known by its French acronym, aims to establish an Islamic state within Algeria and target Westerners.

* Founded in 1998, it eclipsed the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) in Algeria and is currently thought to be the most effective remaining armed group in Algeria. In October 2003, the group offered its support to the al Qaeda network.

* Its leader is currently Abdelmalek Droudkel, also known as Abu Mus'ab Abd el-Wadoud, who opposes a six-month amnesty offered under a peace and reconciliation program promoted by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika aimed at ending years of political violence. The amnesty expired in August 2006.

* The group's strength is believed to be about 500. Its claims of some 5,000 guerrillas are seen as an exaggeration. Its weaponry includes AK-47s, explosives and land mines.

* The group is thought to be financed through criminal activities, including smuggling of items such as vehicles, cigarettes, drugs and arms.

* In 2003 the group kidnapped 32 European tourists in the Sahara. All were freed apart from one who died of heatstroke.

* In late January the group changed its name to Al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb after gaining the approval of Osama bin Laden, according to an Internet statement.

* SOME RECENT ATTACKS:

-- Islamist Web sites published a statement purporting to come from the GSPC that claimed responsibility for bomb attacks on police stations near Algiers at the end of October 2006. Three people died.

-- November 2006 incidents believed to have been carried out by the GSPC include attacks in the Ain Defla region southwest of Algiers and in Bouira province, east of Algiers, in which at least 15 soldiers were killed.

-- The group claimed responsibility for the bombing of a bus carrying foreign oil workers on December 10 in the first attack against Westerners in Algeria in years. Two people were killed.

-- The group claimed responsibility for seven bombs that went off almost simultaneously in Algeria on February 13, killing six people east of the capital Algiers.

Sources: Reuters, Jane's World Insurgency and Terrorism, FAS - Federation of American Scientists, Global Security.