Algeria Releases Key Islamist Leader

Capping a week of surprise gestures aimed at easing the bloody divisions in Algeria, the government of President Liamine Zeroual on Tuesday released from prison the founder of the country’s banned Islamic Salvation Front.

Abassi Madani, jailed since June 1991, walked out of Algiers’ Seradji prison “on parole” after serving six years of a 12-year sentence. The decision by a military court in Blida followed by one day Zeroual’s removal of the unpopular, hard-line head of the country’s internal police force, and by a week the release of the man who was Madani’s acting successor as head of the party, Abdelkader Hachani.

The exiled leadership for the party known by its French initials, FIS, called the release of Madani “positive” and a “definite and effective contribution to solving the crisis and returning to peace and stability.”

But it was unclear what effect, if any, Madani’s release and the other gestures would have on ending the violence in which more than 60,000 Algerians have died since 1992. Analysts believe that the aging Madani has no substantial influence over the five or six radical Islamic factions that have mounted a ruthless terror campaign against the authorities and those Algerian civilians who reject their jihad, or holy war, for the creation of an Islamic state.

Madani’s release caught most diplomats and political observers by surprise, especially amid a series of rural massacres and a market bombing that have killed at least 80 people since the weekend.

It was not clear whether Madani would be allowed to speak publicly after his release or if the government would try to use him to relaunch negotiations with the banned group to end the country’s agony.

The release appeared to be in line with the public mood, evident in the parliamentary elections that took place last month, to reject extremism on both sides and move the country to a peaceful settlement through dialogue. Freeing the imprisoned political leadership of the FIS has long been seen as the chief prerequisite for any negotiated settlement of the conflict.

One prominent FIS leader, Madani’s more radical deputy, Sheik Ali Belhaj, remains in prison.

“I understand it to be an indication that the government is more assured of its own weight,” one Algiers-based diplomat told The Times on Tuesday after Madani was freed. “Having said that, it is not an easy decision for this government.”

A Paris-based analyst of Algerian affairs, Qusai Saleh Darwish, said the releases could revitalize the FIS, which he said has been suffering from a leadership vacuum. Zeroual’s government wants to project confidence while doing something to appease the many Algerians disappointed by the June elections, suspecting they were rigged and would not bring change, Darwish told the Mideast Mirror monitoring service in London.

Some hard-line government factions think Zeroual is moving too quickly in reaching out to opponents, and they fear that Islamists may be able to reach power through the backdoor. The newspaper El Watan published a front-page editorial Monday arguing that it is dangerous to negotiate with the Islamists.

The authorities have been locked in a savage conflict with Islamic militants since 1992, after army generals stepped in to thwart an expected the FIS landslide in the second round of the country’s first democratic general elections.

The army argued that it had to act because FIS intended to turn Algeria into an Islamic state.

Since becoming president in 1994, Zeroual, a retired general, has been attempting a two-pronged strategy to restore the country’s stability: a campaign of “eradication” against the most violent Islamic insurgents coupled with a gradual rebuilding of a pluralistic political system and democratic institutions.

Last month’s parliamentary elections, the first since the aborted 1992 vote, took place in relative calm. Although marred by alleged fraud and low turnout, they produced Algeria’s first multi-party parliament. A nonviolent Islamist party finished second in the voting.

Seven Islamist ministers are now seated in the new coalition government dominated by the pro-Zeroual National Democratic Rally.