Algerian government has reached a "secret truce" with Islamist group

According to the Financial Times newspaper, the Algerian government has reached a "secret truce" with the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) in a bid to end five years of violence.

The daily quoted FIS insiders as saying its armed wing agreed to the truce earlier this summer in return for the release of jailed FIS leader Abbas Madani.

Two FIS leaders, Madani and Abdul Kader Hachani, were freed last July and the FIS Madani was to make the truce official by calling for an end to violence on Algerian television, the Financial Times reported.

This was supposed to lead to discussions between the FIS and the government over the future of the party.