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Algerian President Vows Pardon for Terrorists

By The Media Line news agency

Algerian President 'Abd Al-'Aziz Boutelflika is trying to rein in terrorists by offering to pardon them if they turn themselves in.

Al-Qa'ida fighters who lay down their weapons and turn themselves in to the authorities will be pardoned, the president said during the run-up to the presidential election, according to the London-based A-Sharq Al-Awsat.

Bouteflika called on Al-Qa'ida members to surrender during an election gathering in the south of the country on Saturday.

"As to those who were and still are against the Algerian people, and have left the path, they must lay down their weapons and then we'll allow a comprehensive amnesty," he said.

The election is slated to take place on April 9, but the campaigning has been marred by violence.

Dr. Jack Kalpakian, a political scientist from Al-Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco, said the offer of a pardon was not only an election tactic but also an attempt to cause divisions within Al-Qa'ida.

"Some within Al-Qa'ida are more attached to reality and will feel it is time to do this, because the society is against them and they need to rehabilitate themselves," he said. "The amnesty will appeal to them. Others in the organization are more militant and they will reject it."

Kalpakian said this division within Al-Qa'ida would benefit the state and the pardon would give Bouteflika a chance to appear more reasonable to supporters of Islamists, who represent a significant portion of the Algerian public.

Bouteflika's candidacy was made possible after his supporters passed a controversial amendment to the constitution last November, which allowed the president to seek a third term in office.

Previously, the president was only allowed to run for two terms.

Critics say the president is seeking to consolidate his power in the North African country and prevent new players from entering the political system.

Bouteflika, 72, has been in power since 1999 and is nearing the end of his second term. He is widely expected to win the elections.

Attendance at the elections is expected to be low, with organizations opposed to the regime anticipating a turnout as low as 20 percent, a result of what they call voters' lack of confidence in the government and the system.

The run-up to the election has been clouded by violence, with several attacks waged by terror groups on security forces over the past couple of years and especially in the past few months.

Thirty-three people, most of them security personnel, were killed in attacks in February alone.

Most assaults against Algerians have been attributed to members of Al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb (QOIM), a reincarnation of the local Salafist Group for Call and Combat, which was formed during the civil war in Algeria in the 1990s.

Analysts say the attacks are meant to decrease support for Bouteflika, who is seen as the one who restored peace, at least in urban areas, in Algeria.

Meanwhile, Bouteflika is trying to increase the turnout in the upcoming poll by reportedly restricting activities of opposition parties calling to boycott the upcoming presidential election and mobilizing religious figures to encourage the population to vote.

Bouteflika's supporters say if the president remains in power, he would continue the reconstruction of the country, which was devastated in years of violence in the 1990s.

Arguments in favor of the amendment say that limiting presidential terms deprives the people of the option of reelecting a good leader.

However, analysts say this is problematic in the African context, where the democratic process is not fully developed.

Algeria is an important ally of the United States in the war against terrorism.

(c) 2008. The Media Line Ltd. All Rights Reserved.