International Journal on Criminology Volume 4, Number 2, Winter 2016 | Page 44

International Journal on Criminology
in the downward spiral the country experienced. I would note that the FIS led to the
creation of a terrorist nebula with conflicting arguments that is nonetheless united by
its desire to spill blood on one of the lands of Islam, and if capable of doing that, then
doing it in the rest of the world. The fact that some leaders of the FIS declared that
an extremist fringe was outside their control does not lessen their guilt, since none of
the FIS leaders (living abroad or in Algeria) ever condemned these “uncontrollable”
elements.
Some FIS leaders, like Anouar Haddam, on the contrary, approved attacks
like the one against the headquarters of Security of the Wilaya in Algiers, causing
dozens of civilian victims, notably in a passing bus. Other FIS leaders turned these
attacks into a business or leverage to force concessions from the authorities. Even
though these leaders were later charged by the GIA with being “opportunist” and
“participationist,” 28 all of these terrorist groups were the legitimate children of the
Islamic Salvation Front.
Another aspect of the history of the FIS interests us here. Up until the eve
of the first round of elections on December 26, 1991, the leadership of the legal FIS
hesitated to participate in a vote that a portion of its leaders strongly opposed—
including Ali Belhadj, who later admitted as much. 29 To settle their differences on
this point, the FIS leaders decided on December 19, 1991, 1 week before the vote, to
consult an undisputed Muslim authority: Muhammad Nacereddine El Albani. Soon
afterward, El Albani called these elections heretical. While this revealed the true nature
of the FIS, other events exposed its extremism and thirst for violence, even before it
was disbanded by the administrative chamber of the Court of Algiers on March 4,
1992, confirmed on April 29 by the Supreme Court. In an activist rage sparked by the
preachers of the FIS, one of its groups held hostage a police brigadier in the Kaboul
mosque in Lakhdaria, 80 kilometers to the east of Algiers. He was found dead on June
26, 1991, before the arrest of the two sponsors, Madani and Belhadj.
The provocative aggressions and protests of the crowds guided by volunteers
returning from Afghanistan in combat fatigues touched the entire country. Chanting
the slogan “fighting evil and preaching good,” Islamist militias locked down
neighborhoods while eliminating alcohol and requiring the hijab. During the march
on the presidency organized on April 20, 1990, by the FIS, which demanded the
liberation of the prisoners of the Bouyali affair, the protest was led by former Afghans
who, a few months later, led the most bloodthirsty groups. 30
30
Including Azzedine Baa, Mansouri Méliani, and Abdelkader Chebouti.
43