Algeria Increases Pressure On Muslims

A major Algerian crackdown on Islamic militants, which reportedly resulted in more than 1,000 rebel deaths last week, appears to be part of an all-out government effort to crush the guerrilla movement and restore order before elections later this year, analysts said Wednesday.

Even as news of the death toll in four Algerian provinces surfaced earlier this week, the Islamic extremists struck a highly visible blow in the heart of Algiers. Mohamed Abderrahmani, editor of the newspaper ElMoudjahid, was assassinated, making him the 30th journalist killed in the 3-year-old insurgency.

The government offensive, though not officially confirmed by Algerian authorities, would be the largest military operation against Muslim guerrillas since January 1992, when the military-backed government canceled elections that the Islamic Salvation Front was expected to win. An estimated 30,000 people, many of them civilians, have been killed by Islamic guerrillas as well as government hit squads.

“The government is increasing the pressure because it is thinking of the elections,” said Ramdane Redjala, an Algerian political analyst in Paris. “It wants the people to feel safe enough in the streets to vote. But it also wants to show that its extremist opponents can be defeated.”

This week, Algerian President Liamine Zeroual began a round of new talks with opponents of his military-backed regime on the elections, which he has vowed to hold by the end of the year. Zeroual met with his predecessor, Ali Kafi, head of the independent war veterans, who is to meet leaders of the main legal opposition parties later this week.

In a move that could suggest a reopening of negotiations, the government moved two leaders of the Islamic Salvation Front, Abassi Madani and Ali Belhadj, from jail to house arrest for secret talks, Algerian newspapers say.

A similar move by the government last fall failed to break the deadlock, and the men were returned to jail. But this time, eight retired Algerian army generals are drawing up a plan for national reconciliation and dialogue with the front, El Hayat newspaper reported.