National reconciliation moves forward in Algeria

2009-10-01

Algeria has made progress towards national reconciliation, according to government officials involved with the process.

By Nazim Fethi for Magharebia in Algiers – 01/10/09

[Fayez Nureldine/AFP/Getty Images] Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika promoting the national reconciliation charter in 2005.

Algeria has addressed the cases of nearly 25,000 victims of terrorism through its national reconciliation programme, and many key terrorists have surrendered, leading some observers to proclaim the process a success.

The 2005 Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation "has realised its objectives," said Farouk Ksentini, head of the National Commission for the Promotion and Defence of Human Rights, at a special forum on Monday (September 28th).

"The process of dealing with the cases of victims is drawing to a close," said another forum participant, Merouane Azzi, a lawyer in charge of the government sub-committee responsible for monitoring national reconciliation.

Azzi said that nearly 25,000 victims' cases identified at the start of the process were not covered by the charter, while another 25,000 had been resolved. Azzi said that the excluded cases concerned "the settling of accounts, people who have left the country, and others who have rejoined the underground", adding that "there were false declarations" of victimisation.

In a related process, roughly 5,800 cases of people who were allegedly "disappeared" have been processed, from among the 6,154 cases submitted. However, some families have rejected any compensation and are still demanding that the truth be revealed about their loved ones' disappearance.

Azzi said 17,000 terrorists were killed in the conflict, and that their families had put together claims for compensation.

"At present, between 11,000 and 12,000 families have received compensation," he said. "Concerning those workers who were dismissed because of their political allegiances, between 4,000 and 5,000 cases reached a final settlement."

Parallel with the resolution of these cases, operations have continued to persuade terrorists to surrender. According to Azzi, "Ten terrorists have turned themselves in to security forces over the past two weeks, and 22 more have laid down their weapons since the start of the year."

Noteworthy among these surrenders is that of terrorist leader Nabil Touati, who headed the Zemmouri group east of Algiers.

Touati, long considered one of the most dangerous members of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, told the daily newspaper Ennahar that "the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC)'s membership in the al-Qaeda network was the main reason for the bloodshed seen by the group, both at leadership level and among the simple foot soldiers."

He said that the membership "was not seriously thought through, especially as most of the group's armed members had joined the underground because of local issues, which is far removed from the al-Qaeda network's international thinking".

Touati also said that "calls from Salafist leaders have had a dissuasive effect on the majority of armed members, in terms of the justification for armed activities in Algeria".

He also attributed what he called a "weakened" condition of the terrorists on the crackdown by the security forces, particularly on the use of mobile telephones and supply routes.

According to local press reports, other groups are moving towards surrender. The group in Bordj Menaïel, to the east of Algiers, has called a truce in preparation for laying down its weapons. But the most significant surrender in recent days was that of Rial Mohamed, the chief recruiter of young terrorists. He turned himself in before the start of a huge security operation that led to the elimination of Hadjres Hocine, a terrorist leader in the region around Zemmouri.

Meanwhile, Algerian and Malian security forces are conducting a major offensive against al-Qaeda's hideouts in Mali this week, according to the El Khabar newspaper. The assault was launched just as supporters of Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the former chief of the Sahel region, were preparing to turn themselves in.