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Ali Belhadj	Ali Belhadj	Islamic Salvation Front	North Africa				20050728
Sheikh Ali Belhadj	Sheikh Ali Belhadj	Islamic Salvation Front	Africa: North				20051102	Link

Africa North

Leader of outlawed Algeria Islamist party dies in exile

2019-04-25

[AlAhram] The founder of an outlawed Algerian opposition party that pushed for the creation of an Islamic state died Wednesday in Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... where he was living in exile, his close ally told AFP. Abassi Madani died at the age of 88 "in a Doha hospital after a long illness", said Ali Belhadj, adding that family members had informed him of the death. Madani, who had lived in Qatar since 2003, founded the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) with Belhadj in 1989. He called for armed struggle in 1992 after Algeria's military scrapped the country's first multi-party legislative elections. The FIS had been on track to win an absolute majority in the polls and the ensuing violence plunged the country into a decade of civil war that left 200,000 dead, according to official figures. Madani "wanted to be buried in Algeria, but I don't know if it will be possible", Belhadj added. The former head of FIS's armed wing Madani Mezrag confirmed Madani's death, telling AFP he too had been informed by family members.

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Africa North

Cops come down on Algiers demonstration

2011-02-13

[Ennahar] Massive security forces have prevented scrolling hundreds of people Saturday in central Algiers to seek regime change, on the call of the National League for the Defense of Human Rights (LNDDH) Political parties and civil society organizations. The police have managed to impose their authority and control the situation by encircling the protesters at "1st May Square", following the refusal of the departmental authorities to allow the protest march. The latter was then transformed into a sit-in near the station given the insignificant number of participants. The protesters gathered on the Place de la Concorde rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud demanding an end to the "system". After festivities in the morning, the police carried out arrests among the protesters, who chanted "Free Algeria", "The regime out!" And "System get out!". Political and civil society leaders belonging to the National Coordination for Democracy and Change (NCCD), the source of the call to march, attended the event as well as the co-founder of the Islamic Front Salvation (FIS), Ali Belhadj. A march was scheduled from "Place de la Concorde" to "Place des Martyrs", a journey of about 4 km, but anti-riot units that criss-crossing the area have blocked. The Interior Ministry has announced 14 arrests, but the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights (LADDH) reported more than 300 between Algiers, Oran (west) and Annaba (east). It was unable to say how many demonstrators were jugged. Among the demonstrators briefly jugged in Algiers, two members of the Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD), Othmane Maazouz and a woman, Feta Sadad and Fodil Boumal, a founder of the National Coordination for Democracy and Change (NCCD) at the origin of the call to march. Forty young cons-demonstrators briefly appeared to shout their support for President Bouteflika. "Bouteflika is not Mubarak", they shouted. In the late afternoon, a last group of diehards has dispersed after continuing to chant slogans in a corner of "Place de la Concorde", contained by a large anti-riot force. A cons-demonstration of about sixty members of the Alliance parties in power, the National Liberation Front (FLN) and the National Democratic Rally (RND), then occupied the premises quietly.

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Africa North

Ali Belhadj charged with endangering security

2011-01-20

[Ennahar] The former number two of the Islamic Front of Salvation (FIS, dissolved) Ali Belhadj was indicted Wednesday in Algiers for endangering the security of the state" and inciting to armed rebellion", according to sources close to the matter. Mr. Belhadj, who was heard by a judge of the court of Bab El Oued, was jugged by police in the district of Algiers during the riots between 6 and 9 January. Belhadj refused to answer questions from the magistrate and dismissed the two charges, the source said. The riots that hit the whole country have made five deaths and over 800 maimed.

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Africa North

Algeria: Islamists fail to horn in on riots

2011-01-11

[Ennahar] Algerian Islamists have tried unsuccessfully to be added to the new revolt that has shaken Algeria since 5 January, when they had reached the peak of their popularity after the deadly riots of October 1988. "Islamists have lost the war of public opinion against the official discourse that portrays them as killers, murderers of children and women," told AFP Ismail Maaraf political scientist. Presumably because they're murderers with the blood of hundreds, maybe thousands, of women and kiddies on their hands. Young born during the "red decade", connected to the world through the Internet and satellite channels are less permeable to fundamentalist discourse, he notes. Yet, from his exile in Qatar, the former chairman of the Islamic Front of Salvation (FIS) Abassi Madani called on supporters of his party, declared off-the-law in 1992, to join the protest against high prices started five days ago. His deputy, Ali Belhadj, was in Bab el Oued district of Algiers where he was unwelcome, while the Imam with ascetic face was the idol of young people 20 years ago. The incendiary sermons of Algerian Islamic loons then drew tens of thousands of faithful biased against the regime. They formed the first battalion of fighters when the FIS rose to armed action after being deprived of its electoral victory in the first multiparty legislative of the country in December 1991. While the riots started last week, the imam has gathered around him a handful of young people, and he was quickly jugged by police. "The recovery attempt failed completely" told AFP Interior Minister Dahou Ould Kablia.

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Africa North

UN approves Algeria request to suspend Arab NGO

2009-07-29

[Maghrebia] In response to a request by Algeria, the UN on Monday (July 27th) suspended the consultative status of the Paris-based Arab Commission of Human Rights (ACHR) for one year, international press reported. Algeria claimed that the ACHR had violated UN rules by allowing "wanted terrorist" Rachid Mesli to serve as the human rights NGO spokesman in Geneva last year. Algeria issued an arrest warrant against Mesli in 1997 for fleeing a conviction for supporting terrorism. The former defence attorney had represented Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) leaders Abassi Madani and Ali Belhadj.

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Africa North

700 GSPC left, attacks continuing

2006-03-20

Fewer than 100 Islamist rebels have surrendered under an Algerian amnesty and at least 700 remain at large fighting for a purist Islamic state, the interior minister said on Saturday. The guerrillas, mostly from the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), continue to launch attacks, making it impossible to lift a state of emergency imposed in the oil-exporting North African country in 1992, Noureddine Zerhouni told state radio. Under the amnesty approved on February 21, Islamists were given six months to surrender and be pardoned, providing they were not responsible for massacres, rapes and bombings of public places. "Fewer than 100 surrendered so far. To be precise, I would say between 50 to 100 have surrendered since the amnesty entered into force on February 30," Zerhouni said. Algeria has been freeing hundreds of jailed Islamist fighters under the amnesty, but Zerhouni said any release of Amari Saifi, one of the GSPC's highest profile members who kidnapped 32 European tourists in 2003, was doubtful. The latest amnesty was aimed at promoting national reconciliation after more than a decade of conflict, but Zerhouni said a state of emergency would remain. "The state of emergency helps coordination between the army and the security forces to fight terrorism. I do not think it is wise to lift it as terrorist actions are still taking place on the ground," Zerhouni said. The minister said between 700 to 800 Islamic rebels were still at large, mostly from the GSPC which is listed as a terrorist organisation by the United States. Zerhouni said that although violence had fallen sharply in recent years, terrorist attacks were still being carried out, particularly in the two provinces of Boumerdes and Tizi Ouzou, east of the capital Algiers. "We have a maximum of four to five terrorist actions per day. Most of the actions are located in Boumerdes, Tizi Ouzou, and at a lower intensity in the regions of Jijel, Batna and Tebessa, as a small GIA group is still present in the region of Chlef," he said. Referring to the release this month of Ali Belhadj, deputy chairman of a banned Islamic party, Zerhouni said Islamic leaders could not play a political role under the amnesty. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Belhadj was among the most influential radical leaders of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), attracting hundreds of thousands to hear him speak. "Those who have had a responsibility in using religion as a tool cannot aspire to any political activity," Zerhouni said. Referring to Saifi, who was sentenced in absentia to life in jail in Algiers last year for helping to create a terrorist group, Zerhouni said the courts would have to decide his fate. "It is a sensitive case. It is not easy. We will see what to do. But it is up to the judges to say whether he should be released or not," Zerhouni said. Observers had been expecting his release under the amnesty after authorities freed this week a founder of the Islamic Armed Group (GIA), Abdelhak Layada also known as Abu Adlane. Algeria says 2,629 Islamists were being freed under the amnesty.

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Africa North

Islamist leader freed in Algeria

2006-03-13

One of the founding leaders of Algeria's militant Islamist groups has been freed from prison, as part of an amnesty backed by the president. Abdelhak Layada, also known as Abu Adlane, had been sentenced to death in connection with his role in the civil war, in which some 150,000 people died. He set up the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) in 1992 after the army cancelled polls which Islamists were set to win. More than 2,000 people are to be freed under the new amnesty. The law came into effect last month after being approved in a referendum last year. As he left prison, Mr Layada was greeted by his family and by the deputy-chairman of the Islamic Salvation Front (Fis), Ali Belhadj, who was himself released less than a week ago. Mr Layada was arrested in Morocco in 1993. The amnesty also offers a pardon to militants on the run who surrender within the next six months, as long as they are not responsible for massacres, rapes or bombings of public places. The amnesty has been criticised in some quarters for granting the military immunity for prosecution. It has also been rejected by the Salafist Group for Fighting and Preaching (GSPC) - the only militant group which remains active. But the BBC's Mohamed Arezki Himeur says its military capacity has been hit by the security forces and it is confined to the mountains east of the capital, Algiers. The amnesty is the second since President Abdelaziz Bouteflika took office seven years ago. He says it will help heal Algeria's wounds after years of a brutal and bloody conflict. The conflict erupted in 1992 after the authorities annulled a general election which Fis appeared set to win.

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Africa North

Algeria frees ex-leader of banned party

2006-03-07

Algeria on Monday released a leader of a banned Islamic party. Ali Belhadj, former deputy leader of the Islamic Salvation Front, had been barred from political or charitable activity and from making public statements when he was released in 2003 after serving a 12-year term for threatening national security. He was arrested again after he praised the Iraqi insurgency last July on the Arab television network Al-Jazeera and condoned the kidnapping in Iraq of two Algerian diplomats, who were later killed. The Salvation Front rose to power in Algeria's first multiparty national elections in December 1991, prompting the army to cancel the second round voting. Beheadings and massacres by Islamic extremists followed, and tens of thousands of civilians were killed. Government security forces were accused of playing at least a passive role in some of the bloodshed, which largely ended with a cease-fire in 1997. As part of national reconciliation efforts approved in a referendum last year, jails around the country started releasing prisoners this weekend. The plan foresees pardons for people convicted of crimes that did not involve massacres, rape or explosions in public places. Critics say the plan seeks to whitewash years of agony and that releasing extremists and allowing them home from exile could plant the seeds for future violence.

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Africa: North

Hassan Hattab trying to reclaim position as GSPC supremo

2005-11-24

Following the referendum on the amnesty for Islamist militants still holding out in the mountains, Hassan Hattab, the former leader of the Groupe Salafiste pour la Prédication et le Combat (GSPC), gave a unique interview to the pan-Arab newspaper al-Hayat (www.daralhayat.com). The information he provides clears up some obscurities in our knowledge of the Algerian jihadist movement, and complements the analysis of the previous edition of Terrorism Focus (see “Algerian Magazine Rebuts the Amnesty”). Hassan Hattab founded the GSPC in 1998. According to his interview, after serving as “emir” (commander) under Djamel Zitouni in a sector to the east of Algiers for a few years during the 1990s, Hattab formed his breakaway group. The group was formed, he says, due to revulsion at the GIA’s “deviation from the salafist doctrine to that of al-Takfir wal-Hijra (excommunication and exile),” a doctrine that licensed the “killing of innocents and denunciation of scholars unjustly,” in particular the denunciation of the leading shaykhs of the Front Islamique du Salut (FIS), Abbasi Madani and Ali Belhadj. Having served as leader for three years, news began to emerge of Hattab’s resignation from the GSPC in 2001 over ideological differences. During the interview, Hattab referred to the increasing influence of bin Laden over the movement at that time as causing rifts in the membership, and one of the factors behind his own decision to leave (these rifts were likely behind the confusion surrounding the GSPC’s support, or criticism, of bin Laden at the time of the 9/11 attacks). In general, Hattab emphasized bin Laden’s influence on strategy, such as the decision to inaugurate activity in the African sahel, and post-dated his involvement with the group. “What had made things worse,” Hattab claims, “was that I had decided to place limits on the [form the] struggle [should take].” Disappearing subsequently from the scene, in summer 2003, reports from mujahideen “penitents” began to emerge saying that he had been killed in confrontations either with the Mali military or with members of the GSPC, who by August of that year had officially appointed Nabil Sahraoui as its new leader. In the interview Hattab explains his disappearance as a deliberate decision “to organize my affairs to facilitate activity and communicate with the brothers in the mountains.” He maintains that far from difficulties with former colleagues, he was “not confronted with anything unpleasant, and was able to circulate among them.” The point Hattab appears to be making here is one of continuity in his role in contradistinction to the lack of continuity demonstrated by the present leadership. This conflict came out into the open at the beginning of this year when, following a trenchant criticism of the group by leading militant strategist Abu Mus’ab al-Suri, the current GSPC leader Abu Mus’ab Abd al-Wadoud posted a fatwa on February 9 on the GSPC website [www.jihad-algeria.com] against Hattab and his “prostration to the tyrants” (see Terrorism Focus, Volume II, issues 7 and 20). Hattab responded on February 17 via the Algerian Arabic daily El-Khabar, accusing Abd al-Wadoud of policies reminiscent of former GIA leaders Djamel Zitouni and Antar Zouabri [www.elkhabar.com]. The accusation Hattab made at the time, of GIA infiltration into the GSPC, he expanded in the al-Hayat interview, arguing the domination of infamous GIA group figures “who carry the ideas of the GIA, using taqiyya [dissimulation] due to their numerical inferiority.” Despite the February 9 declaration, Hattab maintains that he is still the official leader of the GSPC: “I consider myself its founder and leader, since the leadership is conferred as a duty
 the brothers have entrusted me this task.” As for the resignation reports, Hattab maintains, despite the August 2003 declaration by Nabil Sahraoui, that “the GSPC has no document or audio tape to confirm it.” Since his 2001 withdrawal from the GSPC, Hattab has been gaining a progressively higher profile as a campaigner for an end to the armed struggle. In the interview he openly admits communicating with Algiers and to exchanging mutual aid in ensuring the success of the amnesty project initiated by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. He justifies his position by referring to “guarantees” received from Algiers, and to optimistic “developments in the authorities’ treatment of elements of the Islamist armed groups.” Although at the time of the September 29 referendum on the proposal the number of recorded “penitents” hardly topped two dozen, Hattab maintained that Bouteflika’s initiative “actually has wide support among the activists in the mountains.” As to the threats voiced by Abd al-Wadoud against members taking up the offer, Hattab remains unfazed: “GSPC does not have the means to liquidate the overwhelming majority who are convinced of the initiative.” The delay, he maintains, is due simply to some reservations on details of the proposal, notably the rejection of “the accusation of terrorism to the brothers who took up arms against the revolution,” and objections to “the removal of the FIS from the political arena.” The interviewer, Muhammad Muqaddam, spoke of Hattab’s judicious caution in his responses, in order to avoid any mistakes at a delicate stage in what he termed “historic” negotiations. This may account for Hattab’s carefully sketched chronology on his own—and bin Laden’s—mutually exclusive involvement in the GSPC, as an attempt to present a “clean record” vis-à-vis the war on terror. It may also account for an interesting omission, namely his earlier accusations of GIA infiltration by the Algerian secret services. His role as catalyst for the surrender of Algerian militants leaves Hattab highly exposed, but up in the hills near Tizi Ouzou from where he is co-ordinating his work, there is no more talk of the “militancy option,” which he retained even up to a year ago. Meanwhile, Abd al-Wadoud maintains his irredentist struggle up in the mountains of the Akfadou region of Bejaïa province “not for the restoration of their economic circumstances [under the amnesty], nor for the restoration of social rights or confiscated political gains, nor to return to the year 1991 [before the suspension of the election results that sparked the civil war], but for a return to the first three centuries, for nothing less than the [establishment of] the Caliphate.”

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Africa: North

Madani calls for general amnesty

2005-11-02

The leader of Algeria's banned Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) has urged President Abdel-Aziz Bouteflika to issue a general amnesty covering his ex-number two on the occasion of the country's national day. In a message late Monday from Doha, where he has been living for two years, Abassi Madani called on Bouteflika to declare a comprehensive amnesty and "free prisoners, chiefly the honorable Sheikh Ali Belhadj, lift the state of emergency and ensure a just solution to the issue of those who went missing." I'd guess that the general amnesty would include the krazed killer korps... Madani proposed "a cease-fire to all armed [Algerians]" with a view to "restoring lost confidence and ensuring their safe return home." He hoped Algeria's national day, which is marked Tuesday, would usher in a "qualitative turning point" in the country's history, enabling its people to "live united as in the past," according to a copy of the message obtained by AFP. As in what past? Algerians have a tradition of cutting each others' throats when they can't get their way. It seems to be a national characteristic. Madani was freed from an Algerian prison in July 2003 after more than a decade. The 74-year-old was jailed by a military court in 1992 for undermining state security. The same year, legislative elections that his party was set to win were called off by the army. Two months later, the FIS was banned, which led to a violent insurgency in the 1990s, claiming at least 150,000 lives. Madani's call follows the massive approval of a charter for "peace and national reconciliation" by Algerians when Bouteflika put it to a referendum on September 29, according to official accounts.

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Africa: North

Algeria to hold referendum on amnesty

2005-08-14

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika said on Sunday a referendum would be held next month on a controversial amnesty aimed at ending 13 years of Islamist insurgency, but added that only a partial amnesty was on offer. "I invite you ... to voice your opinion in a referendum that will take place on Thursday, Sept. 29 over the draft charter for peace and national reconciliation," he said in a speech. But only the relatives of the victims can vote. Militants involved in "massacres and explosions in public areas" would be excluded from the amnesty, Bouteflika said, without giving further details. The amnesty would involve dropping legal action against Islamist rebels who had already surrendered, and against some still at large in Algeria or abroad. Bouteflika urged Algerians to back his initiative, saying that the referendum would be "transparent, democratic and fair." He had initially been expected to propose a full amnesty for all insurgents, but scaled down the offer when the main outlawed Islamist movement, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), praised the al Qaeda network in Iraq for killing two Algerian diplomats last month. "The kidnapping of our diplomats is part of attempts aimed at hampering national reconciliation," Bouteflika said. The draft reconciliation plan also bars those behind insurgent violence from entering politics, an apparent reference to leaders of the now-banned FIS. FIS chief Abassi Madani and his deputy Ali Belhadj were released in July 2003 after serving 12 years in a military prison, but remained banned from politics and from speaking to the media. Belhadj was detained again last month after he praised insurgents in Iraq and said they had the right to kidnap the diplomats. Time for a remedial lesson. Under the reconciliation plan, thousands of people who disappeared in the violence will be considered "victims of the national tragedy" and their families will receive compensation, Bouteflika said. A government human rights group recently said the number who disappeared was 6,141.

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Africa: North

Algeria extends cleric's detention

2005-08-07

An Algerian political leader has been told by a court that he would remain imprisoned pending further questioning, his son said. Ali Belhadj, the former number two in the banned Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), was arrested on 27 July after an Aljazeera television interview where he supported the resistance to the US-led forces in Iraq. "An investigating judge questioned Ali Belhadj and ordered him back to prison," Abdelkader Moghni, a former FIS leader, said. Belhadj's son Abdelfattah added: "The authorities has returned my father back to jail to complete the questioning." Algeria's General Prosecutor Kaddour Beradja said Belhadj faced charges of "praising acts of terrorism, inciting murder and distributing subversive leaflets". Belhadj told Aljazeera in a telephone interview: "I congratulate the mujahidin fighting in Iraq and ask God to help them in the face of occupiers and their allies, especially that the sharia says that allies of occupiers face the same fate as occupiers themselves." Belhadj also expressed his opinion regarding the killing of two Algerian diplomats in Iraq, for which, according to a website, al-Qaida had claimed responsibility. Al-Qaida regards Algeria's government as infidel and said in a web-statement: "We won't forget what Algeria did to Muslims, by killings, destruction and spilling their blood."

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