Algeria
After a century of rule by France, Algeria became independent in 1962. The surprising first-round success of the fundamentalist FIS (Islamic Salvation Front) party in December 1991 balloting caused the army to intervene, crack down on the FIS, and postpone the subsequent elections. The FIS response resulted in a continuous low-grade civil conflict with the secular state apparatus, which nonetheless has allowed elections featuring pro-government and moderate religious-based parties. FIS's armed wing, the Islamic Salvation Army, dissolved itself in January 2000 and many armed insurgents surrendered under an amnesty program designed to promote national reconciliation. Nevertheless, residual fighting continued between the government and armed Islamic militants (see below).
Other concerns include a growing movement for ethnic-Berber autonomy, large-scale unemployment and the need to diversify the petroleum-based economy.
In 2001 the government agreed to a series of demands by minority Berbers, including official recognition of their language, after months of unrest involving Berber youths demanding greater cultural and political recognition.
Abdelaziz Bouteflika was re-elected to a second term as president in a landslide victory in April 2004. On first taking office in 1999, the one-time foreign minister promised to restore national harmony and to end years of bloodshed. He released thousands of Muslim militants from prison and won national backing for a civil concord in 1999 offering amnesty to armed militants. Many rebels took up the offer and the level of violence declined.
Algeria under Bouteflika has won praise from the West for its support in the war on terror. At home, many Algerians credit the president with the return of security to their country. But some human rights campaigners allege that abuses by the security forces continue, including systematic torture in prisons.
A veteran of the war for independence from France, Bouteflika served as Algerian foreign minister for 16 years until 1979. He went into self-imposed exile for several years in the 1980s to escape corruption charges that were later dropped.
Travelers are warned to avoid travel to the Sahara desert areas of southeastern Algeria and northeastern Mali, where terrorists held 32 Europeans hostage between February and August 2003. Unconfirmed reports that a ransom was paid in Mali for the release of the last 14 of these hostages may encourage further kidnappings in the area. While largely contained, Islamic militants continue to operate in remote areas and routinely attack both security forces and civilians.
Despite making great strides in recent years, especially in the oil and gas industries, economic hardships and high unemployment among young men is a formula for unrest. In 2005, riots erupted in several cities over unemployment and housing issues.
There are two main armed Islamist groups operating throughout Algeria, the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) and The Salafist Group for Prayer and Combat (GSPC). Where the GSPC tends to focus chiefly, but not exclusively, on government officials and their sympathizers, the GIA is responsible for egregious acts of terrorism. The Armed Islamic Group (GIA) is by far the most deadly of the militant groups, laying claim to the most heinous acts so far in the conflict. GIA members regularly conduct attacks on security forces, murders of civilians and the kidnapping of young girls to provide "comfort" for its fighters (a twisted interpretation of Islam’s tenets covering jihad). Shootings, bombings, and attacks on large groups of 25 or more still occur regularly. Algeria's current policies and war against the armed Islamist groups seems to be making slow progress. The death toll is down from 1,000 per month in 1997 to a little over 100 per month in 2004. Most of the attacks perpetrated by these two main groups take place in remote locations throughout the country, typically in or near mountainous regions, making it difficult for security forces to project any significant anti-terrorist military personnel and equipment in the fight against them. Western business interests operating outside of Algeria's major cities typically live and work on heavily secured compounds.
