The Vatican on Saturday declared seven French Trappist monks beheaded by Islamists in Algeria in 1996 as martyrs, paving the way for their beatification -- the first step towards sainthood.
On the night of March 26-27 1996, the monks were abducted from the Priory of Our Lady of Atlas in Tibehirine, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of Algiers, by members of the insurgent Armed Islamic Group of Algeria (GIA).