GOVERNMENT ISLAMIST PARTY SEES CONSENSUS ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L ALGIERS 002189

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE PASS TO USTR

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/22/2016
TAGS: PTER ETRD KDEM KISL AG
SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT ISLAMIST PARTY SEES CONSENSUS ON
FIGHTING TERRORISM BUT NOT ON REFORM

REF: A. ALGIERS 2104


B. ALGIERS 2140

Classified By: Ambassador Robert S. Ford, reasons 1.4 b/d


1. (C) Summary: A top official in the moderate Islamist
Movement for the Society of Peace (MSP) party, a member of
the governing coalition, told us Algeria did not yet have the
same societal consensus to support WTO accession and other
economic reforms aimed at attracting investment as it did on
combating terrorism. Noureddine Ait Messaoudene suggested
that if the U.S. wanted to move forward on WTO accession it
take a piecemeal approach that would gradually generate
momentum for more strategic economic changes. Ait
Messaoudene expressed his sympathies for the December 10
terrorist attack against an American target (in which an
American was also wounded) and said the attack came as a
shock to the Algerian government, which he said was moving
aggressively to find the perpetrators. He described the
remaining terrorists in Algeria as increasingly small but
intent on using violence to attract media attention. MSP was
the only political party, he stressed, that supported lifting
the Emergency Law originally enacted to fight terrorism. He
also said the MSP advocated sweeping changes that would open
up political space and end the practice of corruption. End
Summary.

REMAINING TERRORISTS ARE FEW IN NUMBER
--------------


2. (C) Over lunch with PolEc Chief December 18, Noureddine
Ait Messaoudene (strictly protect) the executive director of
the Movement for a Society of Peace (MSP),the Islamist party
in the governing coalition, expressed great disappointment
and extended his sympathies over the December 10 terrorist
attack in the capital aimed at Western interests (ref A).
Despite the near-universal condemnation in Algeria of
terrorist tactics, he noted that an increasingly small number
of terrorists remained intent on using violence for
violence's sake in order to attract global media attention,
he claimed. Ait Messaoudene stressed that the GOA was
actively pursuing the perpetrators of this act, which he
characterized as "highly embarrassing" for the government.
According to his information, the security services believed
that residents of the area helped the terrorists. Therefore,
the investigation was currently focused on finding
accomplices near the site of the attack.


3. (C) Ait Messaoudene said Algerians of all ages did not
want to return to the dark days of terrorism that the society
witnessed in the 1990s. Algerians understood the dangers of
terror all too well and, for this reason, did not have
sympathy for terrorists. The central problem in his view was
the need to provide hope and opportunity for Algerian youth,
who were more likely than others to be tempted by the allure
of terrorism as a means to be part of something larger than
themselves. Opening up the political system and channeling
the energy of Algeria's youth toward political participation
was key to depriving the terrorists of what few recruits they
could continue to muster. Ironically, the December 10 attack
would harden the resolve of the government to keep the
Emergency Law in force, at least in the near term. Ait
Messaoudene said MSP continued to support cancellation of the
law as key to widening the political space in Algeria.

BROAD CONSENSUS NEEDED FOR ECONOMIC REFORM
--------------


4. (C) The MSP executive director contrasted the broad
societal consensus in Algeria on fighting terrorism with the
lack of it on issues of economic reform. He said Algerians
understood that investment was required in order to create
jobs, but they did not want to make the changes necessary to
attract investment. PolEc Chief noted that Algerians
frequently complained to U.S. officials that U.S. investors
were not investing outside the hydrocarbons sector. Ait
Messaoudene said what was worse was that Algerians themselves
did not invest in their country, which he described as devoid
of functioning banks and a stable legal environment. PolEc
Chief reviewed MEPI programs active in these areas, which Ait
Messaoudene said were making a helpful contribution.


5. (C) Noting that Minister of Commerce Djaboub was a member

of MSP, PolEc Chief reviewed current American thinking on
making progress toward Algeria's accession to WTO and asked
Ait Messaoudene for MSP views on this subject. The party's
executive director urged making progress on two to three
defined areas of Algeria's WTO process as a start and leaving
difficult issues until later. Asked if elements of MSP
opposed WTO accession, Ait Messaoudene replied in the
negative. It was not MSP that stood in the way of Algeria's
WTO accession. Rather, he said, the labor unions and
sympathetic elements of the FLN comprised the bulk of the
opposition. He added that the Algerian business sector was
also hostile to some reforms tied to WTO accession that would
harm their interests.


6. (C) Ait Messaoudene said he personally was of the opinion
that WTO accession would take Algeria some time, because the
same societal consensus on fighting terrorism was far from
evident for WTO membership. He encouraged the American focus
sector by sector in promoting WTO accession and not to expect
any dramatic strategic direction from the prime minister or
president. He qualified that recommendation in two important
ways. First, Algeria was a proud state, and additional
accessions to the WTO by other countries in the region could
spur the government into taking more strategic action. The
accession of Saudi Arabia before Algeria, he noted, was a
heavy blow to the Algerian ego. Second, if sector-by-sector
agreements with the U.S. on WTO accession were trumpeted to
the public, and the public understood that such agreements
would lead to greater investment and more jobs, it might be
possible to build momentum for concessions in more difficult
sectors. Ait Messaoudene observed that Prime Minister
Belkhadem was unlikely to make an effort to support WTO
accession, but Belkhadem was interested in increasing
investment and jobs. If tangible benefits of sectoral
reforms were realized, Belkhadem would likely take interest
greater in WTO accession.

MSP COMMITTED TO ROOTING OUT CORRUPTION
--------------


7. (C) The MSP official closed the conversation by turning to
the fight against corruption, which he noted was a wedge
issue for MSP in campaigning for the May parliamentary
elections (ref B). Ait Messaoudene said MSP was sincere in
wanting to root out corruption, like terrorism, from Algerian
daily life. Fighting corruption and opening the political
space were two areas which required anything but a piecemeal
approach. In addition to abolishing the Emergency Law, MSP
sought to make bribery and corruption un-Algerian. While MSP
recognized that salaries of public servants would need to be
raised as part of this effort, Ait Messaoudene emphasized
that Algerians could not continue to sit back and wait for
their country to "outgrow" corruption over a long period of
time. A massive campaign against it had to be launched.
Unfortunately, remarked Ait Messaoudene, Algerians remained
passive about taking control of their destiny. Too many
years of socialism led them to blame others for their
failings. This was true for corruption, and it was also true
for expanding investment opportunity and preparing Algeria to
compete in the global economy.

COMMENT
--------------


8. (C) We can be sure that Ait Messaoudene will talk to his
fellow MSP party members, Commerce Minister Djaboub about our
discussion of WTO accession issues. Coordination of WTO
issues within the Algerian government currently rests with a
mid-level employee at the Commerce Ministry, Cherif Zaaf. As
a result of GOA complaints against Zaaf, we recently learned,
MFA has directed the Deputy Director for the Americas to
attend all Zaaf's meetings with embassy personnel in order to
document Zaaf's incompetence and replace him. While Ait
Messaoudene was careful to avoid speaking for Commerce
Minister Djaboub, he was clear that the Islamist party was
not an obstacle to moving forward on WTO accession. If
anything, he wanted to give the impression that the MSP
embraces reform more openly than other parties ahead of the
2007 parliamentary campaign.

FORD