Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

506 • ORGANISATION DE L’ARMÉE SECRÈTEfrom their intended heist of a bank and the Idaho National Guard Armoryin Post Falls. They were captured in their attempt to raid the Armoryand all five were arrested and later convicted, one for the murderof Shray and the others on RICO charges. See also NEO-NAZIS.ORGANISATION DE L’ARMÉE SECRÈTE (OAS). The SecretArmy Organization was a domestic terrorist group formed by Frenchcolonists and French military officers opposed to French PresidentCharles de Gaulle’s negotiations with the National Liberation Frontof Algeria leading to Algerian independence. Led by four Frenchgenerals, French troops and settlers opposing independence initiallyattempted a coup d’état in Algiers on 22 April 1961 that succeeded inseizing the city but collapsed on 26 April when other French troopsremained loyal to the government. The disgruntled settlers and militaryofficers then formed the OAS and embarked on a campaign of terrorboth in France and Algeria against Algerian Arabs and French citizensfavoring independence. The initial aim was to sabotage the negotiationsand force a crackdown on the Algerian Arabs. Failing in this,their aim became instead to exact vengeance upon de Gaulle.The OAS began using plastic explosives in a massive bombingcampaign. On 13 May 1961 one bombing in Paris injured 10. On 16June 1961 a bombing against the home of the French ambassadorto the United States injured five. In the period 22–25 January 1962,three bombings occurred, including one at the Foreign Ministry inParis that killed one person and injured 13 others. Following the negotiatedcease-fire, a car bombing on 2 May 1962 killed 62 Arabs inAlgiers. This led to a wave of anti-French terrorism in Algeria, forcingmany European residents to flee that country. On 17 June 1962the OAS issued its own cease-fire after failing to derail the peacenegotiations between the National Liberation Front and the Frenchgovernment. Many of its leaders in France were detained, and themain OAS leaders were arrested during July 1962.On 22 August 1962 remnants of the OAS made an assassinationattempt against de Gaulle and others who had negotiated Algerianindependence. The mayor of the French town of Evian, which hadhosted the independence talks, was killed in a bombing. From March1963 to August 1965, the remaining OAS members made at leastanother eight assassination attempts against de Gaulle, while at leastthree other plots were quashed in the planning stages. The French