President Wins Vote, Algeria Says : North Africa: Liamine Zeroual, government’s appointee, retains post after election. But his victory seems unlikely to end Muslim insurgency.

Algeria on Friday proclaimed Liamine Zeroual, head of its military-backed government, the overwhelming winner of presidential elections. But his election, in a vote boycotted by most of his major opponents, only heightened pressure on the government to open dialogue with Islamic insurgents.

Zeroual, a 54-year-old retired general appointed to run the North African country two years ago, won 61% of the vote, with a huge turnout of 75% of eligible voters, according to Mustafa Benmansour, the Algerian interior minister. Opponents contended, however, that the vote and turnout figures were inflated.

Although many voters said they cast ballots in hopes that it would help end a 4-year-old conflict with Muslim militants that has claimed an estimated 40,000 lives, the election appeared unlikely to end the bloodshed soon.

In recent months, attacks by Algerian Islamic militants have spread to France, where bombs have killed seven and injured 170. And the French government said Friday that it has no plans to reduce recently heightened security measures across the country.

Opponents, human rights groups and Western diplomats noted that none of the four parties participating in the election won more than 6% of the vote in 1992 parliamentary elections, the last national poll.

The army tossed out those results when it appeared that the Islamic Salvation Front, or FIS, would win--leading the FIS and other radical Islamic groups to launch a guerrilla war against the government.

“We’re not congratulating anyone,” a senior U.S. official said in Washington on Friday. “But this may be an important moment to create a political process. We still call on the government to negotiate with the opposition.”

Nevertheless, the State Department called the turnout “impressive,” and U.S. analysts suggested that it reflected a desire on the part of voters “to move out of the political abyss,” as one official put it, rather than overwhelming support for Zeroual.

Anwar Haddam, an FIS spokesman in Washington, rejected the results as “illegitimate” and pledged that the insurgency will continue.

The government contended that the vote was a repudiation of the tactics of radical Islamic organizations, such as the Armed Islamic Group, or GIA, which has claimed responsibility for killing dozens of foreigners and thousands of civilians. But Haddam contended that many Algerians voted out of fear of government retaliation.

In fact, the polling Thursday was relatively peaceful, despite GIA threats to turn ballot boxes “into coffins.”

Haddam said that the FIS, which has in the past focused its attacks on government officials rather than civilians, decided against deliberately attacking polling stations.

“Our struggle is not with the people, but with the military,” he said.

Of more than 10 million votes cast, Zeroual won more than 7.2 million, according to government figures. His closest challenge was from Islamist leader Mahfoud Nahnah, who garnered 3 million.

Nahnah charged Friday that the government had hijacked the polls in favor of Zeroual. But he appealed to his supporters to remain calm and to continue the peaceful policies of his legal party.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said that American officials agreed with the Algerian government that the voter turnout had been high.

“Given the recent tragic history of the Algerian people, that is a very significant fact,” Burns said.

Zeroual’s supporters abroad had suggested that his election would free his hand to negotiate with the outlawed FIS and other groups despite opposition to such negotiations by the country’s military.

Diplomats said Friday that, even though the election was closed to key parties and boycotted by others, the real test of their success will be Zeroual’s future actions.

“The key is whether Zeroual opens a dialogue with the opposition and what he does with promised parliamentary elections next year,” a U.S. official said.

Opposition groups had insisted that the government reach agreement with them before holding national elections. Other signs that the regime is serious about improving the situation in Algeria would include an end to human rights abuses, such as arbitrary arrests and muzzling the press, officials said.

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Zeroual campaigned as a candidate independent of the system, a professional soldier who could end the war with Muslim militants and solve the country’s social problems, including poverty, joblessness and housing shortages.

During his two years as the country’s unelected leader, he has carried out a ruthless crackdown on armed rebels while trying, without success, to negotiate with detained leaders of the FIS.

Speaking on state television and radio Friday, Zeroual declared himself “president of all Algerians” and called his election to a five-year term a “victory for democracy” and “a lesson to the internal and external enemies of Algeria.”

The streets of the capital, Algiers, erupted in celebration after his speech, with supporters firing hundreds of rifle rounds into the air and motorists waving Algeria’s flag.

Kraft reported from Paris, Wright from Washington.