| Dunno much about Algeria/Berber conflicts, but it seems to me they might be trying to have peace, not process it. |
Algeria's government signed an agreement Sunday to end years of conflict with the restive Berber minority, pledging to accept long-standing demands including greater recognition of the Berber language. The demands accepted by the government were part of a nonnegotiable list first put forward at the height of a crisis in 2001 when the killing of a Berber teenager arrested by security forces sparked massive riots. Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia said the government would set up a committee to oversee the deal with Berber tribal leaders based in the northeast Kabyle region.
"We must rebuild confidence," the prime minister said. "We will take this path together to follow through and show that the commitments taken are sincere," he said.
Algeria's Berbers, who make up nearly a third of the country's 30 million people, claim to be the original inhabitants of North Africa before Arabs conquered most of the region in the 7th century. The Berbers have long had a tense relationship with central authorities, but their conflict intensified in April 2001 when a Berber high school student was shot to death while in the custody of gendarmes, the security force that governs the countryside. The death sparked massive riots that broadened to an outpouring of massive discontent over soaring unemployment, cramped housing and lack of water. Dozens of people were killed. The Berbers then asked that their language, Tamazight, be recognized as an official language that can be used on government documents like birth certificates. They also demanded the withdrawal of all gendarmes from the Kabyle region, which is east of the capital. Such measures could take months or years to implement. The committee to oversee the deal will have representatives from both the government and the Arouchs, the village committees in the Berber heartland of Kabyle, the prime minister said. Talks between the government and the Berbers fell through early last year. Dialogue restarted Friday between Ouyahia and 19 tribal leaders from the Arouchs.
The Berber conflict is not directly related to an Islamic insurgency raging in Algeria since 1992. That uprising began after the army canceled elections that a fundamentalist party appeared set to win. More than 120,000 people have been killed since then. |