FORMER FIS LEADERS QUESTION IMPLEMENTATION OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ALGIERS 001572

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/05/2026
TAGS: PREL PTER PHUM KDEM AG
SUBJECT: FORMER FIS LEADERS QUESTION IMPLEMENTATION OF
NATIONAL RECONCILIATION

REF: ALGIERS 751

Classified By: DCM Thomas F. Daughton for reason 1.4 (b, d).


1. (U) Former Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) leaders Rabeh
Kebir and Anwar Haddam and former Islamic Salvation Army
(AIS) emir Madani Mezrag gave interviews that appeared August
27 in the Arabic-language daily El Chourouk El Youmi. The
interview of Haddam, who currently resides in the U.S., was
taken from an August 23 interview with Dubai-based al-Arabiya
Television. In their comments, all three men voiced general
support for President Bouteflika and the Charter for Peace
and National Reconciliation adopted in September 2005.
However, each had his own reasons for criticizing the
government's implementation of the law.


2. (U) Kebir claimed that he fully complied with all
administrative procedures in submitting his application to
return to Algeria to benefit from an amnesty under the
Charter. He characterized the handling of his application
and those of other former FIS leaders living abroad as "very
slow," however, complaining that the Algerian authorities had
placed administrative obstacles in their way. He also said
the GOA had generally failed to implement the charter in some
(unspecified) areas. Kebir nonetheless reiterated his
support for Bouteflika's national reconciliation process.


3. (U) Haddam urged Bouteflika to break his silence and tell
the Algerian public that the steps outlined for national
reconciliation in the current Charter were merely a first
step that would be followed by other steps. Haddam suggested
that future steps should include provisions for healing
psychological wounds, revealing the truth about past crimes,
and engaging in a collective search for a permanent solution
to the Algerian crisis. Haddam added that "Algeria needs
more time to spread the culture of reconciliation and
pluralism."


4. (U) Mezrag vehemently criticized the Algerian bureaucracy
and accused it of intentionally impeding implementation of
the Charter. Referring to the "France Party" -- the
francophone elites who are decidedly more secular and Western
in outlook than the vast majority of the Algerian population
-- Mezrag laid the blame on these elements of the GOA for
hindering the resolution under provisions of the Charter for
granting legal status to repentant terrorists and delaying
the payment of compensation to the families of victims of
terrorism. He added that the "eradicators want to push the
country into a new war." Mezrag also criticized the
authorities for their corruption and ingratitude: "Despite
all concessions we (the Islamists) have made for sake of God
and country, the corrupt government under the pressure of
certain lobbies (i.e., the "France Party") remains
ungrateful."

We Don't Want Him
--------------


5. (C) National Liberation Front (FLN) Communications
Director Said Bouhadja told us August 29 that Mezrag had
previously declared in the press his intent to seek an
elected position within the FLN party. Of course, said
Bouhadja, the FLN would never allow Mezrag to stand as a
candidate in or on behalf of the party. Furthermore, the FLN
had held no discussion with him about doing so. PolEc Chief
asked Bouhadja and another member of the FLN steering
committee if the August 27 interviews amounted to "political
activity," which is forbidden to amnesty recipients under the
Charter. They said it was their understanding that press
interviews given by former FIS leaders, so long as they did
not advocate violence or Islam as the basis for political
activity, were permitted. That said, both thought the GOA
would modify this and other definitional aspects of political
activity based on "time and experience." It was clear
neither that the GOA, the Algerian people, nor Algerian
political parties would tolerate a return to violence or
advocacy of it, they added. In their view, running for
office was not possible for Mezrag, and his press interviews
needed to remain "moderate" if he was to avoid running afoul
of the Charter. (Note: Mezrag later announced to the press
that he intended to run for elected office in 2007 -- without
specifying a party of choice -- and called on the GOA to
permit all former FIS figures to run for office. Prime
Minister Belkhadem, responding via the press, reiterated that
former FIS figures were ineligible to do so.)

ALGIERS 00001572 002 OF 002




6. (C) COMMENT: In their interviews, these leading Islamist
figures of the 1990s were careful to avoid criticism of
President Bouteflika, apparently believing that it makes no
sense to bite the hand that has fed them -- or, in this case,
allowed them to reintegrate into society. It is also
striking that Mezrag, who lives in Algeria, has been free to
give interviews to the press on political matters. (We
confirmed with the editor of El Chorouk El Youmi that the GOA
had not complained to the paper about the publication of the
August 27 articles.) Given the restrictions of the Charter
and the cautionary conversations that government officials
have had with Mezrag and others, his increasing press
appearances underscore the intent of some Islamists to push
the envelope and challenge the GOA on the limits of their
political activity. The comments of FLN officials reflect
the continuing uncertainty in the ranks of the government
about how to handle this kind of behavior.
FORD