More than 75,000 people have died in the fight militants waged with the government to instill their strict interpretation of Koranic law.
The main guerrilla group fighting the Algerian government, the Islamic Salvation Army, called a cease-fire on Sept. 24, saying it wanted to expose and combat extremists who have been butchering innocent civilians.
In a statement sent to the media in late September, the Armed Islamic Group--the most radical guerrilla group in North Africa--claimed to be doing God's work and rejected all talk of peace.
It read: "We are that band, with God's permission, who kill and slaughter and we will remain so until the word of religion has prevailed and the word of God is raised high."
Egypt: Three Muslim militants, members of the outlawed Jihad group responsible for the 1981 assassination of President Anwar Sadat, murmured "God is great" as they were sentenced to death in Haekstep in mid-October and 53 others were given jail terms for plotting assassinations, bombings and other subversive acts.
More than 1,000 people have been killed in the 5-year campaign of violence to overthrow Mubarek's secular government.
Senegal: Vigilante mobs convinced that foreign sorcerers can shrink a man's genitals with a mere handshake killed at least eight and wounded more than 30 in early August attacks.
For seven years, Muslim guerillas have been fighting for Kashmir's independence from a Hindu majority, saying they face religious discrimination.
Israel: Suicide bombers carried nail-studded devices into a packed shopping mall in Jerusalem in early September, killing 13 and wounding more than 150. The Islamic militant group Hamas claimed responsibility. The fundamentalist group, which opposes peace with Israel, threatened to carry out more attacks unless Hamas prisoners were released.
Lebanon: Shiite Muslim guerrillas showed off the mutilated bodies of 11 Israeli soldiers killed in a commando raid in early September.
At a news conference in Beirut, the Hezbollah militia displayed parts of the dead soldiers for photographers.
Since the signing of the first Israel-PLO peace agreement in September 1993, as many as 300 people have been killed and 780 have been wounded.
Deborah Elizabeth Reynolds reportedly whipped her daughter's bare buttocks with a board until she bled while Julia Ann Olivas and Esther Rebecca Griggs held her down.
Prosecutors say the women, who often met for "religious study," routinely took methamphetamine drugs and paddled their children.
New Mexico: A university student whose name appeared on an anti-gay hit list escaped an attack by a masked assailant in her Portales home in late July. The student suffered rope burns and a slashed cheek.
Her name was the first of nine to appear on fliers, reportedly issued by an organization called "The Fist of God," which warned that one gay person a week would be executed. The remaining names on the fliers were those of university faculty members.
Oregon: A woman who drowned her 22-month-old daughter in a bathtub was found guilty in early October of manslaughter, but was ruled to be insane and sentenced to the state mental hospital in Salem for no more than 20 years. Much of the trial testimony centered on Ada Louise Neilson's religious beliefs and paranoia about the "devil" getting her and her daughter.
Washington: A teen who came from a strict Christian family and was home-schooled for most of his life confessed in mid-September to killing a 12-year-old babysitter. David Dodge, 17, admitted he entered the Stanwood home, beat the girl unconscious with a piece of wood and raped her in the basement, where several of the five children she was babysitting were sleeping on a nearby couch.
West Virginia: A couple who moved to a secluded cabin in Wetzel County in hopes of starting a religious commune was charged with the murder of a housemate.
William Cooper, 50, pleaded guilty in October to voluntary manslaughter in exchange for a 10-year prison sentence. Arlene Whitehurst still faces a murder charge for the death of Timothy Good.
A would-be burglar alerted police to Good's skeleton, which was found in the basement of the cabin in November 1994. He died from at least one blow to the head. Authorities suspect Good, a disciple, was killed for rebelling against his religious teacher.
Cooper reportedly integrated tarot cards, astrology and 12 tribes from the bible into his religious doctrine.
Wisconsin: A Stoughton man was charged with assault in August for attacking his 3-month pregnant wife.
Bernard S. Schloemer, 27, reportedly punched his wife, 18, in the abdomen and choked her, declaring that "it's the devil who's coming for the baby," when he found her talking to a male acquaintance.
The woman told Madison police they had been married only 4 months and that he had been behaving strangely and making frequent references to Satan.