SECTARIAN VIOLENCE FLARES UP AGAIN IN GHARDAIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ALGIERS 000144 SIPDIS DEPT FOR NEA/MAG E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/10/2019 TAGS: PGOV PINS AG SUBJECT: SECTARIAN VIOLENCE FLARES UP AGAIN IN GHARDAIA PROVINCE REF: A. 08 ALGIERS 588 ¶B. ALGIERS 3 ALGIERS 00000144 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Mark Schapiro for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: New violent clashes in the town of Berriane (ref A) highlight the ongoing tension between Algeria's Ibadi Muslims (or Kharijites) and the Sunni (Malikite) Muslims of the Ghardaia region. Sectarian clashes broke out last week after Friday prayers and left two people dead and 120 injured. Security forces were, once again, slow to respond, and street-level tensions simmered for almost a full week. Central government officials ultimately took control of the situation after the relatively tepid response by regional government authorities. Reinforcing the state's presence in Berriane and trying to reconcile the sects have become a public strategy of the government, but tension will likely continue to simmer and flare up as long as the youth of the region have little to do and feel they are specifically disenfranchised. END SUMMARY. SIMMERING ETHNIC TENSIONS FLARE -------------- ¶2. (U) The Ibadi community in the Ghardaia region existed largely isolated from the rest of Algeria for centuries (ref B). During the late 19th century, French authorities relocated ethnically Arab Malikites to the Ghardaia valley. As competition for land and resources increased in recent years, the socially conservative Ibadi have been forced into closer quarters with their Malikite neighbors. Nowhere is this phenomenon more profound than in Berriane, a town 40 km north of Ghardaia. Less wealthy than the neighboring provincial capital, economically depressed Berriane has seen overcrowding in recent years and social tensions have been worsened by continually high unemployment and a perception by the Malikites that they are being excluded from economic opportunity by the Ibadi. ¶3. (U) On January 30, as Friday afternoon prayers finished, a group of Malikites and a group of Ibadis were standing in front of a mosque frequented by both communities. The two sides began exchanging verbal insults at each other and the situation soon escalated to stone throwing and physical fighting. The violence went on for about two hours, after which it was finally contained by the local police. The incident resulted in two fatalities, over 100 people being injured and 20 members of the security services being wounded. The police had to use tear gas bombs and riot gear to scatter people. Tensions continued for almost a week, with front-page photo spreads in Algerian newspapers showing the aftermath of the riots and ongoing patrols by anti-riot police after a curfew was instituted. CENTRAL GOVERNMENT STEPS IN -------------- ¶4. (C) The slow police response and inability to contain sectarian violence in this recent incident is indicative of the difficulty that state institutions and officials face when trying to work in Ibadi communities. As most civil servants and police officers are rotated throughout the country on fixed-length assignments, very few are actually from the Ghardaia region, and thus are almost never Ibadi. The closed nature of the Ibadi community therefore makes it difficult for police officers to collect information and conduct effective patrols. Consequently, Berriane is anecdotally cited as having one of the lowest ratios of police to inhabitants in the country. The self-isolation of the Ibadi was evidenced when Ibadi leaders asked the provincial governor, an Algiers native, not to attend the funeral for the two victims of the violence. ¶5. (C) Concerned that the violence would spread, the national government bypassed the regional authorities and dispatched Senators, MPs and a Minister Delegate for Local Communities to meet with residents to discuss the incident. The Minister Delegate stood up a "council of elders" to seek advice on actions that the national government could undertake to help calm the situation. The Minister of Religious Affairs, Bouabdellah Ghoulamallah, stated publicly that the situation ALGIERS 00000144 002.2 OF 002 is not based purely on religion, but rather on a communal clash that is being exploited by political parties. ¶6. (C) COMMENT: The last twelve months have been a particularly difficult period for the Ghardaia region. Devastating floods have twice hit the town of Ghardaia and fatal sectarian clashes occurred on a slightly more contained scale last May. The central government appears to be paying particularly close attention to the situation given the upcoming presidential elections, and does not seem to trust local authorities to manage the situation. Forming a local committee to advise the government is a good step, but it appears only the creation of jobs for the Malikite community will truly calm these tensions. As we have reported in the past, the volatile ethnic mix one finds in Ghardaia province does not exist elsewhere in Algeria, thus this sectarian violence is not likely to spread, despite the general socio-economic malaise shared by the rest of the country. PEARCE