Balloting complete in Algeria
Algeria, Politics, 10/24/1997

Voting took place yesterday in Algeria under heightened security, in the first local elections since the government canceled a 1992 vote in which Islamist candidates had taken a lead--a move which resulted in years of violence.

The country was largely trouble-free as yesterday's vote took place, with the participation of 66% of voters according to the government, but there were opposition parties allegations of fraud, according to a MSNBC report. The results of the vote were not yet available.

Fraud related to the use of mobile polling stations in remote areas was also charged last summer in a vote that saw the reelection of President Liamine Zeroual. When Zeroual, a retired army general, won the presidential elections of 1995, lower-than-expected turnout and fraud allegations undermined his efforts to widen his political support by installing the new parliament with limited powers.

Yesterday's elections are seen by authorities as another step toward restoring authority in a state shaken by nearly 6 years of bloodshed. Estimates say that between 60,000-75,000 Algerians have died in violence between Islamist groups and the government, and brutal massacres of civilians have been reported on a regular basis in recent months.

The Algerian government released jailed Islamic Salvation Front leader Abassi Madani last July in an apparent peace gesture toward its Islamist foes. He vowed to do all that he could to end the violence, but the attacks continued. Madani was placed under house arrest slightly more than a month after his release after writing a letter to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan suggesting United Nations intervention in the situation. The Algerian government has repeatedly insisted that it would handle the situation as an internal affair, without the intervention of outside authorities.

An October ceasefire by the Islamic Salvation Army, the armed wing of the Islamic Salvation Front, aimed at exposing members of the rival Armed Islamic Group--on whom most of the massacres are blamed--failed to stop the attacks, and there is a great deal of doubt that this round of elections will bring an end to the violence.

Previous Stories:
  Algeria sets up security offices in ministries and government institutions   (10/20/1997)
  Human rights groups call for action on Algeria   (10/18/1997)
  Algerians on elections amid cease-fire   (10/7/1997)

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