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Historical Background

The Algerian conflict from 1992 to the present has been concerned with the struggle between the long-standing Algerian government, supported by the military and the fundamentalist Islamic opposition, aiming to establish an extremist Islamist state. Although Islam has always been a significant presence in Algeria, the emergence of Muslim fundamentalist sentiment is a relatively recent trend, beginning in the 1980s.

Between independence in 1962, and the death of President Houari Boumedienne in 1978, Islamism had been easily controlled within Algeria, a socialist state. However, Boumedienne’s death sparked the spread of forceful Muslim sentiment, encouraged by Algeria’s repressive secularism and one-party rule. This was exacerbated by his successor, President Benjedid Chadli, who adhered to the socialist programmes already in place and whose presidency coincided with a downturn in Algeria’s economic fortunes. Algeria had been well served initially by its reserves of oil and natural gas, and during the 1970s these had provided significant levels of revenue. However, the decline in oil prices during the early 1980s, culminating in 1986 with the collapse of the dollar, led to a worsening economic situation and a mounting political crisis. Crippling levels of unemployment created disaffection among the population, which intensified as the government implemented heavy spending cuts.

Popular discontent with the state’s inability to meet expectations led to riots throughout Algeria in 1988. These were heavily capitalised upon by Islamists, who put themselves at the forefront of the demonstrations, forcing the ruling Front de Liberation Nationale (Front for National Liberation, FLN) government to acknowledge their presence and seek talks. This led to the formation of the Front Islamique du Salut (Islamic Salvation Front, FIS) in February 1989 as Muslim leaders sought a vehicle with which to capitalise upon their growing support. The FIS outperformed the FLN government in local and municipal elections in June 1990. As the FLN moved to protect its position, the FIS organised a series of protests and general strikes. National elections in December 1991 were underpinned by widespread dissatisfaction with the ruling government, highlighted as the FIS garnered massive support in the first round of elections. Much of this was a consequence of popular dissatisfaction with the FLN regime. However, the military moved quickly to keep the FIS from power, overthrowing President Benjedid in the process and outlawing the FIS as a political party. The FIS and various splinter groups that emerged engaged the military-backed government in a low-grade civil war as they sought to force the military-backed regime to recognise the role of Islam in Algerian politics.

The subsequent civil war has claimed between 80,000 and 150,000 lives. It has been conducted between the police and security forces of the military-backed Algerian government on the one side, and the militant Islamic fundamentalists, drawn from several groups, on the other. Initially, the fighting featured a significant amount of attacks by Islamic insurgents on civilians, in an effort to create a climate of fear and to deny the claims of the ruling government that it had control over the country. These attacks escalated from the early to the mid-1990s, culminating in several large massacres in 1997-98, including one at Benthala, south of Algiers, when about 350 villagers were killed by the Groupement Islamique Arme (Armed Islamic Group, GIA) on 22 September 1997. In the following years government forces made progress in combating the fundamentalist insurgents, aided by a general amnesty announced by the government in 1999 for all those who surrendered. A wider amnesty, the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation, enacted in 2006, saw the release of many jailed militant leaders. Yet residual fighting continues as Islamic fundamentalists persist in their struggle to overthrow the government and implement an Islamic state in Algeria. The main parties in the conflict are:

The Algerian government: headed by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who enjoys the support of a number of parties. This includes the FLN, which had fought for Algerian independence during the civil war 1954-1962. Between 1962 and 1989, the FLN was the only political party allowed. Subsequent amendments to the constitution in 1989 led to the formation of other political parties, including the FIS. However, the potential victory of the FIS in the 1991 elections caused the military to ban the FIS, disband the FLN government and form a High Council of State. Subsequent presidents, including the incumbent, Bouteflika, have traditionally based their power upon the military. In its fight against Muslim insurgents, the Algerian government utilises not only the armed forces and the police, but also private militias.

AIS (Arme Islamique du Salut, Islamic Salvation Army). The armed wing of the FIS, the AIS was formed in 1994 and operated predominantly to the west and east of Algeria, targeting mainly military and police targets. Its aim was to force the government to allow it a place in Algerian politics. The AIS signed a peace agreement with the Algerian government on 24 September 1997, and formally renounced its activities in July 1999 after a truce with the government. The truce led to the release of thousands of AIS prisoners in a general amnesty granted by President Bouteflika. Much of the motivation for the AIS truce was its desire to disassociate itself from the GIA.

GIA (Armed Islamic Group). The group was established in 1992 after splitting from the FIS. Together with the GSPC, it numbered up to several thousand Islamic fundamentalist fighters, many of which were Algerian mujahiddin veterans from the war in Afghanistan. It was divided into three main factions constituted by small, unrelated and sometimes warring divisions. It reportedly received financial backing from Iran and weapons from Italian organised criminal elements. The GIA operated mainly to the west and east of Algiers, on the Mitidja plain, otherwise known as the “Triangle of Death”. The GIA’s objective was to create a fundamentalist Islamic state in Algeria. The GIA has been responsible for many of the worst civilian massacres in Algeria. These massacres increased after the killing of the GIA’s original leaders in 1994 and 1995. GIA orchestrated violence continued at varying intensities until 2004, when a combination of aggressive military operations and further offers of amnesty succeeded in undermining the group to the extent that by January 2005 Algerian authorities claimed only 20 members of the GIA remained active and no longer presented a serious threat to Algeria’s internal security.

GSPC (Le Group Salafiste Pour La Predication et Le Combat, Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat): a GIA splinter group, based on the militant Wahhabi branch of Sunni Islam. It is believed to have been formed by Osama bin Laden in 1998, is affiliated with Al Qaeda, and is one of the organisations to have its assets frozen after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on New York. It rejected President Bouteflika’s peace offering in 1999, and has vowed to continue fighting in order to create a purist Islamist state. The GSPC is responsible for numerous terror attacks, although it states that it has limited those carried out against civilian targets. The GSPC has now eclipsed the GIA, and is thought to be the most effective remaining armed group inside Algeria. The GSPC rejected the 2006 Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation, calling for ‘jihad’ against the government. In 2007, it re-named itself the ‘Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb’.