France, March 27 -- On the night of 26 to 27 March 1996, seven monks were abducted from the monastery of Our Lady of Atlas in Tibhirine, south of Algiers, and later murdered. Only their heads were ever recovered.

The attack was claimed weeks later by the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), one of the main insurgent groups fighting the government at the time in the Algerian Civil War.

That remains the explanation accepted by Algerian authorities today. Yet families of the victims are not convinced all the facts have been laid bare. 

"The Algerian authorities do not want the full truth to come to light," claims Patrick Baudouin, a lawyer representing the men's relatives. 

"Algeria continues to stick to the version blamin...