Algeria
Last updated December 2007
Algeria, often seen
as a gateway between Africa and Europe, has been ravaged by violence over
the past half-century and remains at war with itself. More than a million
Algerians were killed in the fight for independence from France in 1962,
and more than 100,000 have died in the more recent power struggle that
has defined Algerian reality.
For more than a decade, Algerian politics have been dominated by the struggle
involving the country's military and Islamist militants, in which innocent
civilians are the most numerous casualties. In 1991, a general election
won by an Islamist party was annulled by the sitting government supported
by the military, marking the beginning of a bloody campaign that has seen
the slaughter of tens of thousands of people. The Islamic Salvation Front
has been banned from elections since that time.
President Abdelaziz
Bouteflika was elected in April 1999 on a promise to restore national
harmony and end years of bloodshed. The former foreign minister released
thousands of Muslim militants from prison and won national backing for
a civil concord offering amnesty to armed militants. Hundreds of rebels
have taken up the offer, but violence has continued. The army under his
control continues to draw criticism from human rights campaigners for
alleged executions, for failing to prevent massacres, and for the disappearances
of thousands of Algerians.
The May 2002 parliamentary elections were marred by the lowest recorded
turnout since independence. Many voters in the Kabylie region in eastern
Algeria, with a large population of the minority Berber community, responded
to the call of leading pro-Berber opposition parties to boycott the elections
in protest against high unemployment, austere economic policies and allegations
of electoral fraud.
Although hampered by persistent violence and deadly factionalism, Algeria
has made some strides towards more political openness in recent years.
President Bouteflika was re-elected to a second term in a landslide victory
in April 2004. The election was peaceful and was endorsed by international
observers as the fairest since multi-party politics was introduced in
1989. However, the opposition charged that the government manipulated
the electoral process and Ali Benflis, Bouteflika's main rival and former
right-hand man, issued a statement denouncing "fraud at all levels" of
the electoral process.
In September 2005, voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum on President
Bouteflika's "Charter for Peace and Reconciliation". The charter
exonerates both security forces and armed groups from accountability for
human rights abuses. The opposition, human rights activists and some families
of the victims say the charter is a step backwards for democracy, as it
clears the state and guilty government forces from responsibility.
A new prime minister, Abdelaziz Belkhadem, was appointed in May 2006,
as the country began to institute the national reconciliation plan. Despite
a spate of deadly suicide bombings by terrorists throughout 2007, parliamentary
elections were held in May of that year. Turnout was low, and with the
Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) still banned from participation, Belkhadem's
National Liberation Front (FLN) easily held onto power.
The complicated challenge of integrating political Islam into the process
of building a democratic system in Algeria is a problem that has important
regional implications across North Africa, in parts of West and East Africa,
and in Western Europe as well. The dual threats of radical religious fundamentalism
and the anti-democratic authoritarianism of governments in many North
African countries require a well-informed policy response, if the U.S.
is to help increase the chances for sustainable democracy, and decrease
the chances for conflict in this vital region.
Algeria is among the top U.S. trading partners in Africa and it has played
key diplomatic roles in helping Washington address difficult issues in
the Muslim world, including its facilitation of the release of the U.S.
hostages in Iran in 1980. Algeria has the seventh-largest reserves of
natural gas in the world and is the second-largest gas exporter; it ranks
14th in oil reserves. The government has continued efforts to diversify
the economy by attracting foreign and domestic investment outside the
energy sector, but has had little success in addressing Algeria's economic
ills, including heavy dependency on energy exports and high unemployment,
which currently stands at 17 percent.
At a conference on desertification held in the capital Algiers in December
2006, President Bouteflika issued a stark warning about this growing environmental
concern. To address this challenge, on Algerian government set aside $2.5
billion to address desertification in 2007.
Algeria is also an important actor in the resolution of Africa's final
colonial conflict between Morocco, which continues to occupy the Western
Sahara, and the independence movement, the Polisario Front. The U.S. has
urged negotiations between Morocco and Algeria to resolve the territorial
dispute, but Algeria continues to support the Polisario Front with arms,
training, funds, and food. Algeria takes the position that Morocco needs
to talk directly to the Polisario Front under the auspices of the United
Nations (UN), and Algeria supported a General Assembly resolution in December
2006 promoting a peace plan for self-determination.
Algeria's enthusiastic
support for the so-called "war on terror" has earned it praise from Washington
and the U.S. considers it a noteworthy ally in the region. The Bush Administration
is helping to re-arm Algeria's army and has promised more assistance.
Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld traveled to Algeria in February
2006, and the U.S. considers Algeria a major player in the Trans-Sahara
Counter-terrorism Partnership (TSCTP), a group of North African countries
responding to the threat posed by Islamic militants in the region.
Instead of applying the "war on terror" framework indiscriminately, U.S.
policy toward Algeria should recognize the internal dynamics of political
violence in Algeria and take into account that country's complex challenges
to economic development and democratization.
Links
Latest news from the Western Sahara Online
Algerie Presse Service (in French)
Latest news from Worldnews.com
Latest news from AllAfrica.com
Basic information on Algeria (CIA World Factbook)
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