You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
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.
Posted by:Dan Darling

00:00