DATE=11/22/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ALGERIA ISLAMIST KILLED (L)
NUMBER=2-256445
BYLINE=SCOTT BOBB
DATELINE=CAIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Unknown gunmen in Algeria, have shot to death
the third-ranking leader of the banned Islamic
Salvation Front. Correspondent Scott Bobb reports
from our Middle East Bureau in Cairo that the incident
comes amid one of the worst periods of violence since
presidential elections last April.
TEXT: Medical sources say Islamic leader Abdelqader
Hachani died from two bullet wounds to the head at a
hospital in central Algiers. News agencies report he
was shot while at a dentist in the Bab al-Oued
district of the Algerian capital.
Mr. Hachani was a senior official in the Islamic
Salvation Front, which won the first round of national
elections eight-years ago. But the Algerian military
cancelled the second round, leading to an Islamic
insurgency in which an estimated 100-thousand people
were killed.
The Front is officially banned and its leader in
detention. But some members have been allowed to
operate freely and the Front quietly backed at least
one of the candidates in last April's presidential
elections.
Following the elections, Mr. Hachani played a key role
in negotiations that led to an amnesty under which
rebels who did not commit serious crimes could be
pardoned if they laid down their arms. Algerians
overwhelmingly approved the amnesty in a national
referendum last September.
Several-thousand rebels reportedly have taken
advantage of the amnesty, but two militant groups
reject it and have vowed to continue their war.
/// REST OPT ///
The former speaker of the Algerian parliament,
Abdelaziz bil-Khadem, told V-O-A that Abdelkader
Hachani was a man of peace and, as a result, his death
is a major catastrophe.
/// KHADEM ACT, IN ARABIC ///
Mr. Khadem says the people who killed Mr. Hachani are
against reconciliation and stability in Algeria and do
not want the bloodshed to end. But he says they will
not stop the reconciliation that most Algerians want.
Islamic militants have killed 35-people in two
separate incidents in the past few days, bringing the
total number of deaths to 100 in recent weeks. These
latest attacks have given rise to fears of an upsurge
in the violence as the January amnesty deadline
approaches.
Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was
elected last April on a platform of national
reconciliation, has warned that rebels who do not lay
down their arms will be eradicated. (SIGNED)
NEB/SB/GE/RAE
22-Nov-1999 12:49 PM EDT (22-Nov-1999 1749 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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