Algeria and Civil War in the 1990s

Algeria won independence from France in 1962. Socialist schemes by the President of Algeria, Ahmed ben Bella, did not work well and created discontent. In 1965, Algeria's leading military man, Houari Boumedienne, took power and Ben Bella returned to the imprisonment he had suffered under the French.

In 1989, the military rulers decided to liberalize. They abandoned socialism and allowed various political parties to operate. In local elections in 1990, an Islamist party, called the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), won 55 percent of the vote in the country's elections. Those in power saw this as a threat, and in June, 1991, they outlawed political campaigning in mosques and established other restrictions for an upcoming election for seats in parliament, the government citing fears that the FIS would end democracy. The Islamic Salvation Front called a general strike. The government declared a state of siege, postponed the elections and imprisoned Islamic Salvation Front leaders. Moslem intellectuals favoring democracy noticed that the world's most powerful democracy -- the United States -- said and did nothing in opposition to the crushing of democracy in Algeria. They complained of a pattern of U.S. support for authoritarian regimes among the Arab speaking states.

Government opponents formed several armed groups, principally the Islamic Armed Movement (MIA), based in the mountains, and the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), based in the towns. Violence erupted in February, 1992. First, guerrillas targeted the army and police. Then some groups started attacking civilians. The government declared a state of emergency. Reform of Algeria's centrally planned economy floundered. The MIA and its allies, under attack from both sides, chose to stop fighting in 1997. Elections that year were held for seats to the lower house of Algeria's parliament. And that year anti-government forces killed more civilians. The violence since 1992 climbed to roughly 60,000 Algerians. The GIA suffered divisions as various members objected to its new massacre policy.

Secret negotiations between the government and the FIS produced an agreement between the two in 1999. A new president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, was elected. A law was passed giving amnesty to most guerrillas. Many guerrillas "repented," as it was said, and returned to a normal life. But in the year 2000, small groups opposed to the agreement attacked civilians and government security forces. The total deaths through violence since 1992 is said to have reached 100,000.

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