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EU mission heads to troubled Algeria
January 19, 1998
The Algerian government wants the EU to help eradicate support for armed groups like this one
Web posted at: 2:13 p.m. EDT (1413 GMT)In this story:
LONDON (CNN) -- A European Union delegation headed for Algeria on Monday amid reports of new killings in a conflict that has claimed at least 65,000 lives over six years and has intensified in recent months.
The EU visitors were on a 24-hour mission seeking to open a political dialogue with oil-rich Algeria.
The European team was made up of junior ministers from Luxembourg, Britain and Austria -- the past, present and next holders of the bloc's rotating presidency -- plus European Commissioner Manuel Marin.
The group was to meet with Algeria's Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf, opposition members of parliament and newspaper editors before returning home on Tuesday evening.
Outside fact-finders not welcome
Algeria's rejection of most international fact-finding visits and its refusal to accept even humanitarian aid means an independent investigation into the violence is highly unlikely.
The government has made clear that the EU delegation is not entirely welcome and will not be allowed to visit sites of killings and alleged mass graves.
Instead, Algeria wants the EU to dismantle what it says are Muslim militant networks in Europe operating in support of the violence against civilians.
Over the weekend, 10 people, including a pregnant woman, were killed in new attacks across the country.
Blame for years of violence in dispute
No one has claimed responsibility for any of the attacks stretching back to 1992, but the government blames Muslim guerrillas for the killings, including more than 1,100 civilians massacred since the holy month of Ramadan began on December 30.
Many victims, including women and children, had their throats slit.
The government rejects claims that it directed the attacks -- some of which have occurred in the vicinity of army barracks -- to discredit Muslim fundamentalists.
The sheer horror of the violence is one reason for European concern. Another is the possibility of secular states warring with Islamic fundamentalist insurgents in an arc of conflict from Turkey to Morocco, the EU's Mediterranean backyard.
"We must act quickly ... because it is very clear to me that whoever does not export stability to Algeria today will import instability tomorrow in the form of large movements of refugees," German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel has warned.
Algeria's nightmare began in January 1992, when the army stepped in to halt elections that would have brought the fundamentalist Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) to power.
The banning of the FIS and its allies sparked an undeclared war against the state by armed Islamic groups.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Algeria's insurgency enters 7th year amid brutal killings - January 10, 1998
- Two European delegations to go to Algeria - January 9, 1998
- Report: More than 400 massacred in Algeria - January 2, 1998
- Algerian election comes off without violence - October 23, 1997
- Algeria debates reform amid fundamentalist violence - August 10, 1997
Related sites:
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
- Algeria - CIA World Factbook
- ArabNet - Algeria
- Window on Algeria
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