Thousands sign up for Algerian peace drive

Published Jun 28, 2006

Share

By Hamid Ould Ahmed

Algiers - A reconciliation drive aimed at ending years of bloodshed in Algeria has so far attracted applications for compensation or amnesty from 40 000 people, an official report published on Tuesday showed.

"A large number" of spouses and children of former Islamist guerrillas were among those seeking cash benefits under the project, which also offers payments to relatives of those who disappeared in violence, the report by state officials said.

"This will allow the Algerian people to achieve their aspiration for peace and social cohesion," the report said.

The report said that to date the reconciliation measures involved 40 000 Algerians - 2 200 former Islamist fighters who had already benefited by being freed from jail, and 37 800 whose applications for compensation or amnesty were being considered.

The government, seeking to bring a definitive halt to a long Islamist insurgency, invited applications for compensation earlier this year as part of a package of reconciliation measures that also included an amnesty for Islamist fighters.

The amnesty, which entered into force in February and will expire next August, gave Islamist guerrillas six months to surrender and receive a pardon provided they were not responsible for massacres, rapes or bombings of public places.

Security forces were given blanket immunity from prosecution for any wrongdoing committed in the conflict. In addition, 2 200 Islamist guerrillas serving sentences for crimes related to the conflict have been freed from prison since February.

The violence in the oil-exporting North African country broke out in 1992 when the authorities cancelled a parliamentary election that radical Islamists were poised to win. The government had feared an Iranian-style revolution.

Many Algerians are still traumatised by the violence, which cost up to 200 000 lives and $30-billion in economic damage.

The government said recently 800 rebels were still active, but the level of violence has fallen sharply in recent years.

After a war that was as secretive as it was brutal, any official numbers relating to the violence are keenly scrutinised for clues to the scale of the suffering.

Algeria rarely publishes statistics about the conflict, saying the country is too traumatised to survive an in-depth inquiry into the guilt and innocence of various groups.

The report said the 37 800 included people bereaved by the violence, those whose relatives disappeared during the conflict, fugitives based overseas who now sought to come home under amnesty, people who lost jobs as a result of suspected links to the insurgency and wives and children of former guerrillas.

Many of the wives and children emerged from mountain hideouts to present their applications, it said.

Related Topics: