ALGERIAN REACTION TO KIDNAPPING OF ALGERIAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ALGIERS 001539 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/23/2015 TAGS: PREL PTER AG IZ SUBJECT: ALGERIAN REACTION TO KIDNAPPING OF ALGERIAN DIPLOMATS IN IRAQ REF: A. FBIS GMP20050723532002 ¶B. ALGIERS 1538 (NOTAL) Classified By: CDA MARC J. SIEVERS, for reasons 1.4 (b) (d). SUMMARY AND COMMENT -------------- ¶1. (U) Algerian political parties, including the moderate Islamist MSP party represented in Parliament, joined the government in condemning the July 21 kidnapping of two Algerian diplomats in Baghdad. An MFA source, speaking on background to the media, said the kidnapping "brought about enormous bewilderment and many questions as to the identity of the kidnappers and what caused them to commit such an act." Prime Minister Ouyahia urged the country's politicians to be supportive of the government's efforts to obtain the release of the two diplomats. The MFA Director of Communications, in the most detailed statement on how the kidnapping occurred, told the press that an Algerian attache driving past the scene witnessed gunmen jumping out of two cars and snatching both diplomats from their vehicle. ¶2. (C) Two press commentaries summed up two different currents of Algerian thinking on the kidnappers' motives. Mahmoud Belhimeur in El-Khabar thought the abductors sought to make a statement against what he (inaccurately) described as Algeria's refusal to support the Coalition's occupation of Iraq. Meanwhile, Mounir Boudjema in Le Quotidien d'Oran named Saddam Hussein loyalists and Zarqawi's organization as the most likely culprits. In our view, the GOA publicly is walking a fine line in trying to win the release of its diplomats without bringing unwelcome public attention to the GOA's low-key support for the Iraqi government and Iraq's transition to democracy. (End summary and comment.) MFA: CONDEMNABLE ACT AND SOURCE OF BEWILDERMENT -------------- --- ¶3. (U) An MFA source who briefed the Algerian press on background the day after the July 21 kidnapping of Algeria's chief of mission in Baghdad, Ali Belaroussi, and another diplomat, Azzedine Belkadi, was widely quoted in Algerian media as saying: "Our solidarity with Arab causes is unconditional and, in this particular case, with the brotherly people of Iraq, has never raised a shadow of doubt. It is the official position of our country. It is also that of the entire Algerian people who feel, deep inside, everything that the Iraqi people feel today. The kidnapping of our two diplomats, however incomprehensible and unjustifiable, is no less condemnable. ¶4. (U) "The Algerian political movements (the MFA source continued) reacted yesterday by vigorously condemning the kidnapping all the while calling on all forces to unite around the Algerian state so that it can do the work that it has to do to safeguard the lives of these two citizens. By all evidence, our two kidnapped diplomats never expected to be the object of any kidnapping, given their status, their behavior, as well as the Algerian position on the tragedy experienced by the Iraqi people. Therefore, Thursday's kidnapping brought about enormous bewilderment and many questions as to the identity of the kidnappers and what caused them to commit such an act. We hope with all our heart that reason will triumph and that our two citizens will soon come back safe and sound." PRIME MINISTER ASKS POLITICIANS TO SUPPORT THE GOA -------------- -------------- ¶5. (U) Alongside Department Deputy Spokesman Ereli's condemnation of the kidnapping and a French statement of "great concern," Algeria's major political parties issued their own condemnations. Most notable was that of the Movement for a Society of Peace (MSP),a moderate Islamist party, which "exhorts sincere men inside and outside of Iraq to denounce such behavior and to contribute to the liberation of the kidnapped diplomats as soon as possible." Prime Minister Ouyahia, the highest-ranking government official to issue a statement, urged the country's politicians to be supportive of the authorities' efforts to obtain the release of the two diplomats by not speculating openly or making statements about the kidnapping. KIDNAPPING AS WITNESSED BY AN ALGERIAN DIPLOMAT -------------- -- ¶6. (U) MFA Director of Communications Abdelhamid Chebchoub provided to the press the most details about the kidnapping and the circumstances surrounding it. Noting Algeria had not yet received any claim of responsibility (Note: Zarqawi's organization in Iraq has since claimed responsibility. (See Ref A.)),Chebchoub said the two diplomats had just left the Algerian Embassy in Baghdad and were on their way to lunch when their car was intercepted, approximately 60 meters from the Embassy. An Embassy attache, who saw the scene unfold behind him after passing his colleagues' car, said gunmen jumped out of two cars and snatched both diplomats from their vehicle. In response to the kidnapping, Chebchoub said the MFA had established a crisis monitoring unit. PRESSURING ALGERIA TO SUPPORT THE COALITION... -------------- - ¶7. (U) Two press commentaries, one by Mahmoud Belhimeur in the Arabic-language daily El-Khabar, and another by Mounir Boudjema in the French-language daily Le Quotidien d'Oran, laid out two conflicting Algerian perspectives on the kidnapping. Belhimeur claimed one of the kidnapped diplomats had told his relatives that he did not need to carry a firearm, since no one, including the Iraqi "resistance," would consider him a target. Inaccurately claiming that the GOA had refused to participate in any way in supporting the U.S. Coalition's efforts in Iraq, Belhimeur opined that targeting Algerian diplomats was one way of pressuring Algeria to change its stance and begin cooperating with the Coalition. Maybe the abductors, he continued, targeted Algeria to make a statement against Algeria's refusal to support the "occupation." What is certain, wrote the author, is that some would like to push Algeria to adopt a different stance on Iraq. ...VERSUS ZARQAWI'S CHALLENGE TO ARABS AND THE COALITION -------------- -------------- ¶8. (U) Mounir Boudjema wrote in Le Quotidien d'Oran of two lines of inquiry in identifying the perpetrators. Either loyalists of Saddam Hussein and former elements of his security services could be responsible, or Zarqawi could have ordered the kidnapping in retaliation for Algeria's having given credibility to the Iraqi transitional government by giving into U.S. diplomatic pressure that Arab countries post ambassadors in Baghdad. Whatever the motive of the kidnapping, Boudjema concluded that Algeria was confronted with the thorny and risky prospect of being further drawn into an issue that the GOA had painstakingly sought to avoid. SIEVERS