Algeria

I

Increase of Fundamentalist Violence

When Boudiaff was assassinated in June 1992, Ali Kafi was named to replace him as head of state. He was replaced by a five-member collective presidency, known as the High Council, with Kafi at its head. In March 1993 Algeria cut diplomatic ties to Iran and Sudan, accusing both of supporting fundamentalist violence. In January 1994, the council named Defence Minister Liamine Zeroual as Algeria’s president for a three-year interim term that was expected to lead to new multi-party elections, and was then disbanded. A former diplomat and career soldier who fought for Algeria’s independence from France, Zeroual was given wide latitude to negotiate with the Islamic Salvation Front and other fundamentalist groups. Violence continued through 1994, and in October Zeroual admitted that he had failed to open up constructive dialogue with the militants and called for presidential elections to be held before 1996.

In December 1994 an Air France airbus was hijacked at Algiers by Islamic fundamentalists demanding the release of jailed Islamic Salvation Front leaders; after the killing of three hostages, the terrorists were killed and the remaining hostages released unharmed when French commandos stormed the plane at Marseille. A peace proposal drafted by the Islamic groups was rejected by the government in January 1995, while a car bomb detonated in Algiers on March 10 killed over 60 people. By mid-1995 there were signs that determined army efforts had begun to yield successes against the fundamentalists. Zeroual continued to reject negotiation with the fundamentalist groups as long as they kept up their campaigns of violence.

In November 1995 the government held the first multi-party presidential elections in the Algerian republic’s history. The Islamic Salvation Front and other opposition groups boycotted the election; however, the poll of over 80 per cent was large enough for the government to claim a victory for moderation when voters returned President Zeroual to office. His new government, formed in January 1996, included some moderate members of the fundamentalist opposition. However, terrorist atrocities continued, including the killing of seven French Trappist monks in May 1996. In the same month, Zeroual announced a package of constitutional reforms including proportional representation, a bicameral legislature, and the banning of parties campaigning on an Islamic platform. A government-sponsored Conference of National Concord in September 1996 did little to reduce levels of anti-government violence. A referendum held in November 1996 gave strong approval to the constitutional reforms; opposition groups denounced the results as fraudulent.

Violence continued unabated in 1997, beginning with over 300 murders during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan (January-February). Algeria’s first multi-party legislative elections were finally held in June 1997, resulting in a victory for the government’s National Democratic Rally and its ally the FLN, from a turnout of around 65 per cent. The Islamic Salvation Front boycotted the election, and the unexpectedly low turnout partly reflected its influence; international observers cited many instances of government electoral malpractice, but declared the overall result to be sufficiently fair.

Fundamentalist massacres continued in September and October 1997, including the killing of 85 people (possibly as many as 200) in a suburb of Algiers. The Algerian authorities, which for the first time allowed the local press to witness a counter-terrorist operation, criticized the French and Italian governments for suggesting that something ought to be done about the Algerian massacres. The army claimed successes in an offensive conducted against the Armed Islamic Group just south of Algiers, but the killing of civilians continued both there and in western Algeria.

In local elections held in late October 1997, the National Democratic Rally won most of the seats, after which thousands of people marched through the streets of Algiers in protests organized by opposing parties, who declared the elections fraudulent. Following further massacres in 1998, the army pressed on with its offensive against Islamic fundamentalist rebels in the west of the country. In September 1998 a UN investigation team refuted accusations that the Algerian government was covertly encouraging fundamentalist atrocities against civilians. In the same month, President Zeroual announced he would step down to assist reconciliation. In the April 1999 presidential elections, all of the candidates except Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the official candidate backed by the army, withdrew on the day before polling, alleging massive electoral fraud. Bouteflika was elected by default, but the result threatened to prolong Algeria's political instability.

J

Under Bouteflika

In July 1999, President Bouteflika's 'civil concord' peace plan was launched, offering amnesty to the armed wing of the FIS, the Islamic Salvation Army (AIS) in return for a ceasefire, and promising the release of imprisoned militants as well as a lifting of the ban against the FIS. Despite some continued tensions the AIS agreed to disband.

International human rights investigators, encouraged by the recommencement of the Red Cross monitoring of Algerian prisons in December 1999, visited the country in May 2000 at Bouteflika’s invitation. In August there was a new prime minister, Ali Benflis, and new Cabinet. In September and October, with many peace plan promises still unfulfilled, violent clashes again began to break out, led by hardline rebel groups who had refused to join the deal but who were now backed by those who had initially taken advantage of the amnesty. The violence escalated in the Ramadan month of December, accompanied by criticism of Bouteflika’s handing of the situation. By the end of January 2001 over 1,200 people had died or been massacred. The EU reopened dialogue with Algeria in February but failed to persuade the government to agree to UN involvement.

Throughout 2001 there were clashes between government forces and members of the minority Berber community, protesting for greater political freedoms and official recognition of their language—Tamazight. In October 2001 President Bouteflika acquiesced to the Berber language demands, promising a constitutional amendment to recognize the legitimacy of Tamazight and the following March he said that the language would receive official recognition as a national language. In early November torrential storms hit Algiers, especially the poorer areas of the city, including Bab El Oued district. In the worst floods for over 40 years over 1,000 people were believed to have died. The government was heavily criticized for allowing such conditions to arise whereby so many people could lose their lives.

Parliamentary elections in May 2002 saw the FLN retain power in the National People’s Assembly, though the election had the lowest turnout since independence. Disaffection was particularly evident in the Berber region of Kabylie. In March 2003 Jacques Chirac made the first state visit by a French premier since Algerian independence more than 40 years previously. Prime Minister Ali Benflis was dismissed by President Bouteflika in May and replaced by the former prime minister, Ahmed Ouyahia.

An earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale, with its epicentre 50 km (30 mi) to the east of Algiers, hit the district of Boumerdes on May 21, 2003. There were an estimated 2,000 deaths and 10,000 people injured. The high casualty figures were blamed on the collapse of poorly constructed substandard housing; over 70,000 Algerians were left homeless, with the government pledging a renewed building programme to construct 20,000 new homes.

The leader of the banned Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) Abassi Madani and his deputy Ali Belhadj were released from prison in June 2003, having served a 12-year sentence.

In October 2003 the FLN, the majority party in the National People’s Assembly, withdrew its ministers from the Cabinet in a long-running dispute with the president. The FLN accused President Bouteflika of seeking to stop its leader Ali Benflis from running in the April 2004 presidential elections. President Bouteflika announced in February 2004 his intention to seek re-election. Meanwhile, the leaders of the Berber minority declared their intention to boycott the presidential elections in light of their ongoing dispute over the status of the Tamazight language. Bouteflika won the election, gaining 85 per cent of the vote against the 6 per cent gained by Ali Benflis. In November the president announced plans for a general amnesty to those groups previously associated with violence. In May 2006 Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia resigned and was replaced by Abdelaziz Belkhadem.