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1 (Updated August 18, 1998)

handle is hein.crs/crsaapx0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 98-219 F Updated August 18, 1998 Algeria: Developments and Dilemmas Carol Migdalovitz Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division Summary Introduction For over six years, Algeria has been plagued by intensely violent conflict resulting from a contest for power between Islamist political upstarts and an entrenched military/civilian elite. The Algiers government has tried both military force and political and economic reforms to end the crisis, with little success. Background1 In October 1988, Algerians protested food shortages resulting from years of government mismanagement and corruption. The political system had been dominated since independence in 1962 by a single political party, the secular National Liberation Front (FLN), that had become entrenched and viewed as corrupt. After the riots, then President Chadli Bendjedid instituted reforms, including the legalization of political parties. In 1989, in the first multiparty local elections, the fundamentalist Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), which sought a state governed by Islamic law, was victorious. Congressional Research Service *** The Library of Congress CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web This report provides background information on the civil strife in Algeria, updating developments since the government abandoned talks with the Islamist Salvation Front in 1995 and began a process of institution-building. The result, however, did not restore peace. Rather, violence has become more indiscriminate. The culprits are harder to identify and may include government forces as well as Islamist extremists. Policymakers face the dilemma of wishing to hold the government to a higher standard of conduct as the upholder of the rule of law, while not wanting terrorists to benefit from criticisms of the government. The European Union, European governments, and the United States are reluctant to act for differing reasons, but support an international inquiry. For congressional concern, see H.Res. 374, April 28, 1998. For background, see CRS Report 96-392, Algeria: Four Years of Crisis. 1 See also Mona Yacoubian, Algeria's Struggle for Democracy, Council on Foreign Relations, Studies Department, Occasional Paper Series No. 3, 1997.

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