Madani's deputy Ali Belhadj remains in gaol but in better conditions than before...
The winner may open talks with part of the FIS but rule out any formula which might bring back the FIS’s President Abbasi Madani and especially the radical Ali Belhadj still in gaol...
Vol 38 No 25 |
- ALGERIA
- MOROCCO
Equally pressure from abroad could eventually force the government to talk to Madani and even one day to the only Islamist leader who might really influence the guerrilla armies the gaoled ultra-radical Ali Belhadj...
It is also suggested a redeployment of troops is necessary to counter the continuing threat of the FIS' Armée Islamique du Salut (AIS) and other guerrilla groups including the Front Islamique du Djihad Armée (FIDA) and the newer Islamic League for the Call and Jihad (LIDD) a group active in the Medea region led by Ali Ben Hadjar which seems to bring together former FIS rivals from the Salafyist wing of the party led by Ali Belhadj and the Djaz'arist wing promoted by Mohamed Saïd before his move over to the GIA and subsequent murder (AC Vol 37 No 17)...
After almost five years of solitary confinement and hunger-strikes Ali Belhadj spiritual leader of the most radical Islamists is ill as is Abdelkader Harchani...
On 31 July Rachid Mesli a lawyer defending those accused of killing ex-Premier and security chief Kasdi Merbah and a signatory to an open letter from lawyers in May demanding to know the whereabouts of Front Islamique du Salut leader Ali Belhadj was taken from his car by four armed men...
The others were veteran Algiers preacher Ahmed Sahnoun and ultra- radical FIS leader Ali Belhadj who has been in gaol for over four years but is still probably the only elected Islamist leader to whom underground groups would listen...
The next moves may be clarified when news leaks out of the next round of secret talks between Betchine and imprisoned FIS leaders Abbasi Madani and Ali Belhadj...
