Western Resistance: Algeria: Amnesty Referendum Aims for Reconciliation

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October 1, 2005

Algeria: Amnesty Referendum Aims for Reconciliation

On Thursday 29 September, the electorate in Algeria were allowed to vote on whether or not to give approval for a plan to give peace a chance, after 10 years of civil war and unrest, which have claimed the lives of at least 100,000 people. Most of the killed have been civilians. According to the Guardian, Algerian president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika had been touring the country for the past month to gain support. In the early 1990's when the fundamentalist Islamist Salvation Front was ready to take power in an election, the government cancelled the election, and the bloodbath followed. With the results of this referendum now counted, 97% of voters wanted an amnesty to be granted to many Islamist extremists, the interior minister Nourredine Yazid Zerhouni announced.

Women holding pictures of missing relatives stage protest in Algiers Groups in opposition had rejected the idea of a referendum, wanting instead a boycott, and an account to be made for the lost lives. In acts of protest, many voters buried their voting cards in graveyards, according to Reuters, with the cards laid to rest beside loved ones killed in the carnage. Zerhouni stated that 79% of the electorate turned out to vote, but Pascale Harter of the BBC suggested the actual number was far lower.

The Islamic Salvation Front became militarised, but were not as ruthless as the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) who are blamed for most of the killings. Even though the Islamic Salvation Army disbanded in 2000, there is still a threat from the "Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat", which was formed in 1998 by ex-members of the GIA, according to Reuters. Reuters also claim that the true figures for the killings exceed 150,000. It was members of the "Salafist Group" whom police in Italy were recently investigating.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at October 1, 2005 6:59 AM