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