HOTEL SHOOT-OUT SHOCKS ALGERIAN TOWN

C O N F I D E N T I A L ALGIERS 000892

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/10/2018
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KOCI AG
SUBJECT: HOTEL SHOOT-OUT SHOCKS ALGERIAN TOWN

REF: A. ALGIERS 588

B. ALGIERS 661

Classified By: CDA, a.i. Thomas F. Daughton; reasons 1.4 (b, d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Incidents of communal violence flared up in
several regions recently as Algerians entered their August
vacation season. In a grisly display of clan justice on
August 6, a mob ransacked a private hotel in Sidi Aissa
(Msila province),provoking a shooting spree that raged
through the night, leaving four people shot or stoned to
death and 63 injured, 52 from gunshot wounds. According to
press accounts of the incident, police did not respond until
after the violence subsided. Meanwhile, sectarian tensions
flared again in July in the desert town of Berriane, leaving
15 people injured before local notables could calm the
situation. There has been an uptick in civil incidents
during the months of July and August throughout Algeria,
which have manifested in the form of riots, hunger strikes
and tribal or blood feuds. The increased violence, and the
authorities' ineffectual response to it, underscore simmering
tensions in Algerian society, frustration with the
government, and perhaps an attitude among some Algerians that
to get justice they must take matters into their own hands.
END SUMMARY.

BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE
--------------


2. (U) After mourning the death of Arbaoui Saad, who
succumbed to fatal injuries from an altercation following 15
days in the hospital, a group of relatives and concerned
citizens descended upon the Djebel Naga hotel in the town of
Sidi Aissa (Msila province, southeast of Algiers) on August 6
to vent their outrage at those they held responsible. Saad's
relatives claimed that the hotel owner's son fatally wounded
Saad when, after an argument between the two, he ran over
Saad with his car. Soon after the group arrived at the
hotel, the situation reportedly degenerated into a scene
reminiscent of a Sopranos shoot-out.


3. (U) The hotel manager and hotel security guards reacted
first by opening fire on the crowd, who allegedly attempted a
raid on the hotel premises. Eyewitnesses described to the
press their horror as gunfire erupted and the mob destroyed
the hotel gate and began looting and burning the property in
fighting that raged through the night. When the violence
subsided, police found the hotel manager's body dumped on the
street, and press reports indicated that he was stoned to
death. The police also discovered the bodies of three others
who died from gunshot wounds. The press reported a total of
63 people injured, including eight women; 52 of the injured
suffered gunshot wounds. The rioters also looted and burned
the hotel and incinerated 20 cars and three trucks that were
parked near the building.


4. (U) The French-language daily El-Watan criticized the
authorities' failure to stop the violence and to intervene in
what it called a foreseeable incident. In a statement to the
press, the provincial authorities said they arrested 15
people in connection with the riot.

TEMPERS FLARING
--------------


5. (U) The incident in Sidi Aissa was the most dramatic in a
series of violent civilian clashes throughout Algeria during
July and August, and joined a recent trend of spontaneous
street violence. According to press reports, a gun battle
broke out on July 31 between alleged terrorists and Algerian
security services in hills outside the village of Ben
Chergui, near Algeria's third-largest city, Constantine.
Police sources would not, however, confirm the account.
Another outburst of violence occurred in the province of
Tiaret on July 27, when a group of young men from rival
groups clashed, leaving one person injured.


6. (U) Sectarian riots erupted again in the village of
Berriane (Ghardaia province) on July 22 between hooded youths
from rival Arab and Berber communities. Local press reported
that venerable members of the Ibadi and Maliki communities
intervened in cooperation with the Gendarmerie to implore
their people not to respond to the provocations of what they
described as "unknown hooded young men." Despite appeals for
calm, the riots resulted in 15 serious injuries and
significant property damage. Large-scale sectarian clashes
in Berriane in May left two people dead and 30 injured, along
with what the authorities estimated to be USD 725,000 in
property damage (reftel).


7. (C) COMMENT: Periodic civil strife as a means to release
pent-up social tension is not new in Algeria and has become
an increasingly common part of the socio-economic landscape.
However, these and other events during last two months have
been unusually violent. Prior to the incident in Sidi Aissa,
open gun battles in major population centers have been
unheard-of since the violence of the mid-1990s. The grisly
account of clan justice and the absence of the authorities'
intervention in Sidi Aissa highlight a troubling
deterioration in social order, and perhaps an attitude among
some Algerians that to get justice they must take matters
into their own hands. Against the broader background of
hunger strikes, tribal or blood feuds and riots, the incident
in Sidi Aissa is a symbol of the deepening discontent in
Algerian society and the government's struggle to muster an
effective response.
DAUGHTON