TALES FROM THE DARK SIDE: CODEL GETS RARE MEETING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ALGIERS 000772

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/08/2032
TAGS: PGOV PREL AG
SUBJECT: TALES FROM THE DARK SIDE: CODEL GETS RARE MEETING
WITH INTERIOR MINISTER

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, a.i. Thomas F. Daughton;
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: On June 30, visiting Rep. Betty McCollum
(D-MN) met with Interior Minister Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni,
an old ally of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika who rarely
meets with U.S. officials. The meeting steered clear of
hot-button issues but did offer some insight into the way
Zerhouni sees the world. Zerhouni painted a picture of an
increasingly successful and open Algeria, though he also
hinted at his dissatisfaction with the performance of local
civil society organizations his ministry has financed and
displayed his vehement anti-Islamist views. A man of slight
build, Zerhouni is rumored to be suffering from a number of
health problems, including kidney issues, although he
appeared in relatively good form during a one-hour afternoon
meeting held in a room without air conditioning. End
Summary.

ONE MAN, ONE VOTE, ONE TIME
--------------


2. (C) Zerhouni began his tour d'horizon by recalling the
urgency of Algerian government actions in the aftermath of
the aborted Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) election victory in
the early 1990s. The FIS and other extremists, Zerhouni
said, had nothing to do with democracy, since their goal was
to take power through the democratic process and then do away
with that same process. Citing a phrase he said was used by
former U.S. Congressman Lee Hamilton (whom Zerhouni
considered "a friend"),he said the FIS philosophy was "one
man, one vote, for one time." Zerhouni told McCollum of his
view that "all religions" have known a violent or extremist
phase, and said he felt that today's threat in Algeria came
from "the same people" as the terrorist threat of the 1990s,
just re-labelled with the Al-Qaeda brand name. Zerhouni
boasted of Algeria's success in isolating the terrorist
threat from mainstream society, something he said was
drastically different from the 1990s, when Islamists drew a
great deal of support from a frustrated population.

FRUSTRATION AT UNDERDEVELOPED REGIONS
--------------


3. (C) Zerhouni pointed out to Codel McCollum that the full
name of his ministry is "Ministry of the Interior and Local
Governance," which gave it a role not just in the
security-based struggle against terrorism in Algeria but also
in the human and economic development that were key to
defeating the threat, particularly at the local level.
Zerhouni told Rep. McCollum that his ministry had spent "as
much money on local development" as it had on security. Part
of the ministry's role was to establish and finance local
organizations to "develop civil society" in Algeria, he
noted, implying that local groups were not performing up to
their potential. (Note: As we reported in ref C, Zerhouni
has made numerous well-publicized attacks on civil society
organizations. While in his view he may have been referring
to those under his ministry's tutelage, our civil society
contacts have told us repeatedly of their perception that
Zerhouni is generally hostile toward and suspicious of
independent civil society organizations writ large. End
note.)

GLOWING REPORT CARD FOR ALGERIA
--------------


4. (C) Zerhouni summarized a list of Algeria's
accomplishments since 1962 for Rep. McCollum, and took pride
in the progress over which he had presided. Today, he said,
of a population of 36 million, some 1.4 million Algerians
attend 42 different universities. Meanwhile, 8 million
students attend elementary school and 2 million are in high
school. At independence in 1962, Zerhouni said that Algeria
only had one university with some 3000 students. On the
health front, Zerhouni pointed out that tuberculosis, polio
and typhoid had all but been eliminated, while life
expectancy has shot up from 46 in 1962 to 77 years today. An
unmanageable 3.4 percent birth rate in 1962 now stands at 1.7
percent, according to Zerhouni. On housing, Zerhouni stated
that ten years ago, there were nine Algerians per individual
housing unit. Today, he said that number stood at 5.5, and

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"housing is not a problem of quantity but rather the
development and management of what is on hand."

CURRENT CHALLENGES
--------------


5. (C) Zerhouni told Codel McCollum that the biggest
challenge for Algeria was the need to "decentralize our
system" and mentioned that Algeria had much to learn from the
U.S. experience in this regard. Since 2000, Zerhouni said,
he had viewed his mandate as a drive to "give credibility to
the state and its institutions." He offered an assessment of
the Algerian electoral system as one that "guarantees
transparency and the validity of the popular vote."
Capitalizing on what Zerhouni called "excellent" Algerian
relations with "the FBI and CIA," he was optimistic that the
fight against terror could be extended to include cooperation
in the fight against organized crime.


6. (C) Zerhouni said his ministry has been working since 2002
on an "ambitious program" to train civil servants and local
officials in management techniques, focusing on the mayors of
the 1541 local districts around the country. He also
mentioned a 2002 internal government decision in which the
Interior Ministry agreed with the Ministry of Justice that
security agents would be assessed and "graded" by judges.
Claiming this empowered local officials, Zerhouni called this
agreement "our silent revolution." In conclusion, Zerhouni
said that the Interior Ministry was open to police training
and exchanges, referring to a surge in new recruits over the
past two years.

COMMENT: LORD VADER WILL SEE YOU NOW
--------------


7. (C) Yazid Zerhouni, 71, is a longtime ally of President
Bouteflika and one of relatively few ministers who have been
in office since Bouteflika began his first term in 1999. He
served as Algeria's ambassador to the United States in the
mid-1980s (although he conducted the meeting with McCollum in
French),but he is perhaps best known as the creator of
Algeria's external intelligence service. He appears to see
his current mandate in historical terms, consistent with the
views of many of our contacts from the same aged generation
who liberated the country from French rule and have been in
power ever since. Shades of that generation's belief that
Algeria can "go it alone" came up several times during his
discussion with Rep. McCollum, particularly when he described
his belief that it was his ministry's responsibility to
foster and control the development of civil society at the
local level. In a similar vein, he described Algeria as a
"crucible of the region" whose gradual economic opening is
now arousing "the interest and greed of many."


8. (C) Zerhouni has repeatedly declined to meet with anyone
from the Embassy for more than two years, but we will attempt
to follow up on his assertion that Interior is open to police
training and cooperation. We suspect that Rep. McCollum was
granted an audience with him because of her reputation here
as one of Algeria's better friends on the Hill. In any
event, Zerhouni was careful to paint her a positive picture.
At times during his discourse, an unsuspecting listener might
reasonably have concluded that he was describing an EU-member
country in eastern Europe. His characterization of Algeria's
electoral system was particularly surreal. Notably lacking
from his laundry list of accomplishments, however, were any
claims about success in economic development. Also lacking
during the meeting was air conditioning. Afterward, Codel
McCollum's MFA escort apologized for the sultry afternoon
heat by remarking with unexpected candor, "his health isn't
good, you know."
DAUGHTON