Bouteflika Reportedly "Luring FIS Into Politics"


Bouteflika’s peace charter was endorsed by an overwhelming majority in a referendum.


By Waleed Tulmasani, IOL Correspondent

ALGIERS, October 25, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has reportedly given the green light to some leaders of the outlawed Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) to establish a political party in return for their support last month of his peace and reconciliation charter.

The party, which is reportedly to lead a moderate Islamic current in the country in the days to come, has grown “mature” and only needs to be declared, a well-placed source revealed to IslamOnline.net.

The source would not give further details on the party’s platform, but indicated that some of the front’s veteran leaders will run the party.

“Bouteflika wants to let bygones be bygones and turn a new leaf with the Front, brining it back to the political fold,” a former minister told IOL on condition of anonymity.

It has been also reported that the former leader of FIS’s military wing, Madani Mizraq, is setting the stage now for launching the party.

Algeria had fallen into a bloody and vicious cycle of violence in early 1992 after the government had annulled the results of the 1991 legislative election in which the outlawed FIS was about to secure a landslide victory.

The authorities then disbanded the Islamic movement and unleashed a crackdown on its members, arresting scores of them.

The government move had triggered a bloody armed conflict that lingered on for several years, claiming the lives of some 150,000 people, mostly civilians.

Bouteflika’s Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation, which was endorsed by an overwhelming majority in a referendum on September 29, grants amnesty to hundreds of FIS fighters.

Rapprochement

The rapprochement picked up steam Friday, October 21, when Anwar Nasreddine Haddam, an FIS leader in exile, signaled he was returning home October 29 after talks with Interior Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem.

He dropped several hints in a statement at the “maturity” of his party, saying that it was high time to register it.

“We want to build a national alliance to activate reconciliation between past foes,” read the statement, a copy of which was obtained by IslamOnline.net.

“Let’s focus now on post-referendum era no matter how different we are,” he said, referring to the September 29 referendum on the peace charter.

Haddam further revealed that FIS leader in Germany was planning to return to Algeria.

Split


Madani had charged that the charter was a ruse to grant amnesty to Algerian soldiers who have blood on their hands.


But veteran FIS leader Abbasi Madani, who lives now in Qatar, rejects any bargain with the regime, striking the discordant note.

He said in a statement published by several newspapers that the FIS would not be lured into supporting Bouteflika’s charter in return for a political role.

Madani had charged that the charter was a ruse to grant amnesty to Algerian soldiers and officers who have blood on their hands.

“My talks with Marzouk and the former leader of the FIS’s executive committee abroad wee cordial and had nothing to do with the reported party.”

Abdelkadir Boukhamkhm, another FIS leader, said he has no idea about the new party.

“The party that ignores the front’s veteran leaders like Madani is doomed to failure as it will lose credibility among the Algerians

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