Algerians divided on reconciliation

Algeria-watchers have reacted guardedly to a proposal sketched by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika for a new amnesty aimed at turning the page after a dozen years of civil strife.

Floating the idea in a speech to mark the anniversary of Algeria's war of independence against France, Bouteflika suggested the amnesty, the second in four years, would be the "starting point for a wider reconciliation".

He gave no details about when and to whom the amnesty would apply, but said any proposal would have to go through a referendum.

The first amnesty was approved in a referendum in 1999 and expired in 2001. Thousands of Islamists who had taken up armed combat surrendered. They were given a sum of money and the means - often a taxi permit and even a car - to start a new life.

An Italian expert on Algeria says the first amnesty helped calm the security situation, but stoked anger among people whose friends and relatives had been murdered, either by terrorists or by soldiers, and who saw no hope of redress.

The Algerian Government-backed newspaper El Watan suggested Bouteflika is holding out an olive branch to former foes, including leaders of Ahmed Zaoui's party, the FIS, who are still on the run or in exile.

"The idea that a general amnesty may be applied to Islamists, notably the former political leaders of the FIS, is not to be excluded," it said.

"The head of state has in effect declared that he will be able to do something for them. However, he is linking any initiative on his part to their acknowledgement of their responsibility in the crisis and bloody excesses experienced by our country over the last decade."

But the paper admitted that the proposal was still so undefined that it left the organisations of civil society, the political parties and the press somewhat dubious.

The violence in Algeria has greatly receded since the 1990s, but lawlessness remains common, secret detention and torture by the Government are still used, unexplained acts of murder continue to occur and hundreds of hard-core Islamist insurgents continue to pose a threat, according to reports by watchdog groups and Western Governments.

The big question is whether it would be safe for anyone who fell out both with the secular government and hardline Islamists to return home in such conditions.

A report on Algeria issued earlier this year by the British Home Office said the authorities had brought the security situation "largely" under control, and torture and brutality by the police and Army "can occur [but] are not commonplace".

"There is no group that is persecuted in Algeria today," the Home Office said. "But instances of persecution by the authorities could occur. For example an Algerian that challenged the authorities on a sensitive security issue could be put under such pressure that he would genuinely fear for his safety."