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Al-Ahram Weekly 29 Apr. - 5 May 1999 Issue No. 427 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 29 Apr. - 5 May 1999 Issue No. 427
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Focus Special Travel Sports People Features Living Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters City of roses besieged by terror
By Khaled DawoudUpon arrival at Algiers' Houari Boumedienne Airport, foreign journalists are each assigned a young, armed policeman dressed in civilian clothes for "protection." When going for an interview, talking to people in the streets, taking a short walk or even having dinner, "Mr Protection" is always in tow. All reporters are also made to stay in one hotel, where it is futile to argue with the security officer who you might end up sympathising with when his answer is invariably: "These are the orders. Do you want to me to go to prison?" He then raises his hands as if handcuffed to emphasise his point.
Yet when one asks for permission to visit areas of conflict between army troops and their local militia allies and members of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), Algeria's most violent and brutal extremist group, the "protection" takes another form. The plain-clothed security men are replaced by a unit of eight army soldiers dressed in green uniforms and armed with sub-machine guns. But it was too late for second thoughts and our convoy set out on its journey to the governorate of Bleida, 50 kilometres south-west of the capital.
Since the last parliamentary elections which took place in late 1997, the capital Algiers has enjoyed a relative calm and has been free of major terrorist attacks and booby-trapped cars exploding in busy markets, according to residents interviewed by Al-Ahram Weekly. The streets are busy all day and signs of late night life can now be seen after many years during which Algerians preferred to stay at home due to the deteriorating security condition.
But as our convoy of cars and army jeeps moves out of the capital towards Bleida, the feeling of security begins to fade. There are checkpoints every few kilometres at which identity papers are requested and the boots of vehicles are occasionally inspected. The city of Bleida, the region's capital, is no different from any small modern city with satellite dish receivers attached to nearly every balcony of its buildings and houses, perhaps a reflection of the level of faith Algerians have in their national television station. The city is surrounded by the beautiful Shari'a mountains covered with trees that provide a hideout for the GIA militants.
After a short drive out of Bleida, our convoy reaches the town of Sidi Al-Kabir next to the mountains. A checkpoint is posted further up and a few others can be seen on top of the mountain among a scattering of houses now virtually deserted because of residents' fear of militant attacks.
Nearly one month previously, armed militants came down from their hideout at night and attacked a house where an old woman was staying with two female relatives. The woman's son was a member of a local militia which had been given weapons by the army and asked to join the fight against the militants. The attackers slaughtered the woman in their "Islamic way," namely by beheading, killed the second woman who was seven months pregnant along with her unborn child and kidnapped the third 19-year-old woman to join their "harem" of sex slaves considered by their extremist ideology as "war booty." After they finished their "holy" mission, they burned the house and all its contents. Then they moved to a second nearby house and set it on fire, burning alive a young woman and her teenage brother who also had a relative in the local militia.
On asking the commander of the army brigade stationed in the area for the reason behind such brutal killings, the answer was: "This is what they always do. They only kill innocent civilians." Where were you when the killings took place? "We were not far, but everything happens quickly." But there are many army soldiers here. Why were they not able to prevent the killings? "What do you want us to do? Put a soldier in front of every house? We have given people weapons to defend themselves, but there were no men at those houses when the terrorists attacked."
Roqaya Jamil, an Algerian woman who said that the old woman killed was her cousin, told us that after last month's attack, many people left their houses for nearby towns. "We have been living in fear for many years, and we don't know what to do. The government says the GIA are killing us, but there are now many groups and each has its own leader. One group kills army soldiers, the others kill us [civilians] and others plant land mines to target army convoys," said the veiled Jamila who covered most of her face with the traditional Algerian hayka.
Ghania Sherif, a resident of the town of Sidi Al-Kabir told us that the militants from the mountains, when targeting civilians, work in two groups: one to do the killing and the second to engage any army units which may confront them.
The Algerian Shari's mountain overlooking the main school at the town of Sidi Kabir in bleida region. A few metres up the mountain, GIA militants burned ahouse and killed its residents (photo: AP)
"They never leave any of their dead or injured behind, and usually manage to withdraw quickly to the woods after finishing their missions," she said.
According to Algerian sources, the heavy security presence in the troubled regions, mainly in the western part of the country, has helped reduce the number of militant attacks, especially after the Islamic Salvation Front's (FIS) military wing, the Islamic Salvation Army (AIS) announced a cease-fire nearly a year and a half ago, following negotiations with the army.
The army's cancellation of the results of the first round of the 1992 parliamentary elections clearly won by FIS sparked the violence in Algeria. More than 80,000 people have been killed in the violence according to human rights groups, although the government puts the figure at 30,000.
Local human rights activists told the Weekly that recent accusations that the army did not take sufficient measures to protect civilians and may have even been involved in incidents of violence against them, has forced the powerful military establishment to make greater efforts to deal with suspected terrorists.
One human rights activist who did not want his name mentioned also said that the apparent state of calm, which preceded the 15 April presidential elections "should not be taken for granted." He claimed that the government, "sometimes prefers not to publicise certain militant attacks so as not to destroy the image it has been trying to create of relative stability in Algeria."
During the election campaign, more than 400,000 soldiers, policemen and local militias were deployed to ensure that no major attacks took place as in previous elections, notably the 1995 presidential election and the 1997 parliamentary vote.
Shortly after this month's elections and with Abdel-Aziz Bouteflika declared Algeria's seventh president, Algerian newspapers reported incidents of violence in which militants attacked innocent civilians at false checkpoints. A number of militants were also killed in army raids.
"I wish the new president would put an end to this violence. Our country is very beautiful, but there is little work and lots of anger," Ghania Sherif of Sidi El-Kabir said. So will Bouteflika manage to break the country's cycle of bloodshed and incomprehensible killings? Most observers believe that nothing should be expected soon. The young, angry militants hiding in the mountains are determined to fight for the cause that they believe will lead to victory or martyrdom while certain influential figures inside the army-backed regime insist that force is the only way to crush opposition.
