Algeria Resource Guide

Algeria's achievement of independence in 1962 came at a high price. Possibly as many as a million people or more died in the vicious eight-year war fought to escape France's colonial grip. In many senses, Algeria is still paying the price for independence. Despite the exploitation of oil and support from pan-Arab or pan-Maghrebi pacts, the nation became engulfed in a new wave of political violence in the late 1980s. Matters escalated after the controversial cancellation of elections in January, 1992, and since then an estimated 120,000 have perished. The post 9/11 world may be coming to terms with the reality of terror, but to Algerians it is an all too familiar phenomenon.

Thankfully, the web shows that there is much more to Algeria than this grim legacy. Algeria's rich and inspiring history stretches back to Roman times and beyond. Other sites demonstrate Algeria's remarkable cultural variety and artistic and literary creativity. Algeria has vast economic potential and plays a pivotal role in the Arab Maghreb Union. Under President Bouteflika, Algeria is seeking to rebuild democracy - though not fast enough, say many dissidents and foreign observers. And yet it is "The Crisis" which understandably absorbs most attention, and many charge the government with human rights abuses.

What follows is a necessarily skeletal overview of Algeria on the Web. The views expressed in these sites do not necessarily reflect those of the compiler. Some, I admit, are fairly strongly argued; but I have sought to cover as wide a spectrum of opinion as possible, so as to give an accurate portrayal of the diversity of outlooks from Algeria, and Algerians abroad. As ever, MERIA welcomes recommendations from readers as to other worthy candidates for listing.

One of the best sources of inside news from Algeria is Algeria Interface. Informative, topical and articulately written, it specialises in features that go behind the headlines, and interviews with leading personalities, from government, opposition and other fields. Useful political and social analysis appears in its Focus section, and economic policy is anatomized in the Business section.

From Arabnet comes the following handy guide to Algerian geography, history, government, culture and business:

Facts and figures aplenty are available, courtesy of the CIA's World Fact Book entry for Algeria, true as of 2002:

Equally informative is Algeria.com. Its various forums give a sense of what concerns Algerians:

The Economist Country Briefing on Algeria is an excellent resource. Apart from an open access archive of Economist articles from the past, and up to January 24, 2003, it also boasts up-to-date sector reports (forecast, fact sheet, economic data, political structure, political forces and economic structure) and many links to external websites and news items:

The Institut du Monde Arabe, in Paris, hosts a page devoted to Algeria, with information on geography, economy, a timeline, and education:

Amongst the better official introductions to Algeria comes from the website of the country's permanent mission to the United Nations. Apart from links to national institutions, work with the UN, and other good links, there is a particularly good list of treaties and agreements, from 1962 to 2002 (listed as a separate URL, below):

Ever dependable, the Country Study Guide for Algeria, from 1 Up Info, has an extremely comprehensive list of essays on the history, politics, economics, military situation and social structure of the republic:

Less comprehensive but handier for thumbnail sketches of Algeria's culture, maps, politics, land, history, economy, defence, people, provinces, government and disputes is Mapzones' Profile of Algeria:

Likewise Algerie Online, which links to pithy sections on history, people, economy, elections, geography and government:

In similar vein is this Algeria page from Africast.com, which includes the latest news:

BBC Monitoring provides a succinct yet comprehensive profile of Algeria, up-to-date as of October 2002, and divided into Overview, Leaders, Facts and Media. Note the sidebar links to a radio broadcast by Ben Bella in 1963, shortly after independence, and a television report by Emily Buchanan on the military takeover in January 1992.

The site also links to an illustrated chronology of key events in Algeria, from independence in 1962 to last year's general elections:

Window on Algeria is meant to open up to various articles, but does not always work. More successful is one of its branches - statistics and figures on the country - although as the most recent figures end in 1996, it may be a bit dated:

On July 2, 1999, The Washington Times published a Special International Report on Algeria. Beginning with a profile of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, it includes sections on history (particularly useful), economic potential, the quest for peace and national institutions. Other essays depict Algeria as a "gateway to Africa", and consider tourism, arts and crafts, privatisation, industrial projects, banking reform, oil sector, relations with the USA and World Bank, and a facts file. The Report is not entirely devoid of criticism, however. You can find features on the housing shortage, press restrictions, the cost of terrorism, and the way bureaucracy impedes investment.

For seasoned surfers, Marweb, a Yahoo-like resource for all things North African, has a portal page devoted to Algeria. Here you can find broad categories (government, culture, news, etc.) within which are listed more than 900 websites:

Arabji.com hosts a good selection of links to government and politics in Algeria, including ones that provide files on leading figures, descriptions of the electoral system, parties, ministries, and information resources from outside Algeria. Sadly, not all the links work, or at least their URLs have not all been updated:

Cirta Online is a home-grown Algerian equivalent of Yahoo, with myriad links divided by category, and spots for top sites and recent sites. The sidebar includes a discussion forum and historical background to the country. Unfortunately, I found that it kept crashing soon after opening. Perhaps you will have more success in accessing what seems like a valuable site:

MENIC - the Middle East Network Information Centre, from the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin - links to websites in the spheres of Arts and Humanities, Economy, Education, Government, and News and Media:

Cornell University's esteemed Department of Middle East and Islamic Studies has its own "webliography" on Algeria, as a subsection of its broader bibliography. Disappointingly, however, not all the links seem to work:

Addressing Algeria from a different perspective, Amnesty has links to fact sheets and maps on the country, plus a most useful glossary:

Africa Expert provides an excellent service, with links to 107 leading figures in political institutions, government and opposition, armed forces, academics, financial institutions and NGOs, all clearly categorized:

Finally, we should recommend two marvellous annotated guides to websites on Algeria, fulfilling much the same role as the one you are currently reading.

The first comes from INCORE, an agency for International Conflict Research, founded and hosted by the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, and the United Nations University. The INCORE guide to Algeria promises to investigate conflict and ethnicity, though in fact it delivers much more - news sources, email groups, assorted articles and political organizations, NGOs and maps:

The second is an eight-page guide to Algerian websites, written by Jan Ellis, apparently of New York College. The guide was published in March 2002 by the Middle East Institute. Particularly noteworthy is its coverage of economic affairs, in a section entitled "The rentier state".

Other categories include: International Engagement, Afghani Arabs and Terrorism, and a large section called Human Rights and Civil Liberties (which inter alia covers Berber politics and UN reports). In addition, Ellis lists sites that deal with Weapons of Mass Destruction, Scholarly Collections (everything from Thomas Jefferson and the Algerians, to Tuaregs, maps, treaties and secret agreements"). Finally, Ellis recommends various News and Media Sources, US Government and UN sites, and links to political parties.

Inevitably, Jan Ellis's guide overlaps somewhat with this current MERIA guide. Equally inevitably, our emphases differ - and I have tried to resist the temptation to follow too closely in Jan's estimable footsteps. As a general rule of thumb, though, if you cannot find what you want in our guide, please go to Ellis!

Algeria.com provides links to a forum, mainly on political matters. There are also good sections like: a photo gallery, business, featured links, community, culture, sport and travel. However, the site�s most useful politically related resources are its comprehensive daily news archive and discussion forum.

Arabicnews.com is particularly good on Algeria. Go to their left sidebar for Country News, and then click on "Algeria" for the week's gleanings. At the bottom of the page that opens up, you will find a link for the previous week's collection of items:

Better still is Yahoo-france news - in French, naturally. Not only is it up to date and comprehensive, but it links to articles from Algerian papers, Algeria-related dossiers in French papers, documents, reports, audio files and extensive archives:

Algeria's other identity is, of course, African. The busy AllAfrica.com agency culls Algeria-related items from the continent's many English language newspapers. Even busier is its up-to-date list of Francophone African articles (listed second, below):

The Weekly English language version of Al Ahram is a trusted source for news on its North African neighbour. Go to the home page (below) and search under "Region":

Or use the search engine in the newspaper's online archives. Inserting the word "Algeria" revealed 663 articles, of which the following are just three examples:

Nasr El-Qaffas suggesting it is "Adieu Paris, Hello Washington" in October 1999:

And Rasha Saad reporting "Fear and Apathy" amidst Algeria's October 2002 elections:

The official Algerian Press Service has a helpful, if slow-loading, English language website. News specific to Algeria appears on "page 2":

For French readers, Le Monde Diplomatique has a veritable treasure chest of thoughtful essays on Algeria. These can be found in a special page that also contains vital national statistics, maps, book reviews, and snippets of past papers:

The North Africa Journal is a good source for continually updated political news on Algeria and her neighbours. Its strongest suit, though, lies in its economic and financial coverage, probably unparalleled on the net:

Algeria Daily, a service 'powered' by Worldnews.com, collates reports from many sources, from the Scotsman to El-Khabar in Algiers, and has back archives too:

Le Matin is a generally pro-Bouteflika French language newspaper based in Algiers. Alongside its news coverage, its website features regular columns by Ghania Khelifi, Yasmina Khadra, Mohamed Benchicou, Rachid Boudjedra, Boubekeur Hamidechi, and the ever-passionate and poetic Latifa Ben Mansour:

El Watan (The Nation, in Arabic) is another French language newspaper. Its website boasts daily news, op-eds and archived articles (in html and pdf formats) going back to June 2002. The paper prides itself on courageous reportage and a commitment to democratic ideals. Its a propos (about us) section notes its record in the mid-1990s, when the paper was temporarily closed, and journalists arrested for their intrepid investigations. Government is not the only target of El Watan journalists' pens; much ink has also been spilt tracking Al Qaida and its connections with Algerian extremists.

Many sites have a list of links to news sources. One comes from Jan Ellis [see above]. Another comes from a website for Algerians living in France, from which readers can access Algerian titles like Ech Chaab, El Khabar (Arabic, with limited French and English translations), La Nouvelle Republique, La Tribune, Le Jeune Independent, Le Soir and Ouest Tribune:

Other titles - El Fedjr, El Massa and El Youm - are listed at this page from the official Algerian Press Service:

Here are two sites for Tribune, the organ of the left-wing Workers Party. The first is official, the second, unofficial:

In French, German and sometimes English, Algeria-Watch lists numerous articles primarily on human rights abuses and violence in Algeria. It also hosts maps, photo galleries, and analyses (exclusively in German, it seems). Most useful of all are their regular "Infomappe" in PDF files, duplicated within the document in all three languages:

There must be more than 50 governmental websites (presidency, ministries, National People's Assembly, embassies, and so on) listed at this page for Algeria, hosted by "Governments on the WWW":

Special mention should go to La Presidence, a website in French and Arabic (not yet in English). It covers both the institution and the individual currently holding that office, Abdelaziz Bouteflika (including an official biography, official ministerial communiqu�s and various interviews). The site also features links to government programmes, state institutions, symbols of the state, and presidential engagements:

The Majlis el-Ouma (National Council) has a website with news, explanations of institutions, and publications, including a journal of parliamentary debates (this is in Arabic, though most of the site is in French). A full list of Council members appears in the second URL, below:

One website is devoted to Algeria's National Assembly, al-Majlis Ech-Chaabi al-Watani, but is only in Arabic:

And the Algerian Embassy in the USA has a list of links to ministerial websites:

The following pages from 1 Up Info's Country Guide to Algeria provide two views of the early days of Algeria's ruling party, the FLN - the early days, and its role since independence to 1992:

The following article from North Africa Journal shows the FLN's ability to 'reinvent itself' in its remarkable local election success in October 2002:

Until 1989 the FLN was Algeria's sole legitimate political party. Today it is variously a rival to and ally of the ruling Rassemblement National D�mocratique. The RND itself was only created in 1997, but lacks its own website, so one has to rely on other sources, often opposition ones, like WAAC. Here, for instance, is an analytical editorial on the May 2002 elections by Dr Adel Chems-Eddine. Called "Algeria's Parliamentary Elections: The Faustian Choice", it describes Algeria as "wedged in a surrealist bi-polarization [between] the FLN and RND":

The Political Reference Almanac (of polisci.com) has a good page on Algerian politics, with embedded internal links to the National Assembly and National Council

Africa Expert [see above] has a list of succinct profiles of government politicians:

The Barcelona-based CIDOB Foundation has a page listing Algerian Presidents, Prime Ministers, Parliamentary Speakers, Foreign Ministers and other leaders since independence, with links to pictures and the occasional longer biography:

Here is a report on the appointment of Ali Benflis as Prime Minister in August 2000:

After the effective military putsch of 1992, can the much-vaunted restoration of democracy in Algeria succeed? The Estimate posed this question, and many others, in an essay in May 2002. It also compares Algeria's parliamentary elections of that month with simultaneous polls in Bahrain and Tunisia:

Giles Tremlett's report on the same elections, entitled "Death and dissent as Algeria goes to polls", concludes pessimistically about claims that the polls would be free. Helpfully, the report includes a timeline of significant political events since 1962:

Superficially, at least, the polls seemed freer than the 1999 presidential election, when all but one candidate either withdrew or were legally forced from participating in the race. Jacqueline de Gier wrote about the polls, also for The Guardian:

MEDEA, the Belgian-based European Institute for Research on Mediterranean and Euro-Arab Co-operation, provides an excellent list of their own essays on the politics of Algeria. These include biographies of leading politicians, overviews of the country, relations with other Mediterranean states, and profiles of parties, both governmental and Islamist opposition forces:

The Embassy of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria has a website that contains much consulate news, though also snippets of articles on the Berber issue, and one devoted to President Bouteflika. Disappointingly, few of the links work, apparently due to confusion between back slashes and forward slashes. Intrepid websters can fiddle around to retrieve the information.

The organisation Pour Solidarit� Alg�rie is a treasure-chest of information (in French) on current developments in Algeria, with a certain penchant for exploring the Islamist trend, and relations with France:

In a world where liberals often condemn Algeria's rulers, it may surprise some of them to hear Boutros Boutros-Ghali pronounce "I Support the Algerian Government". This is the title of a more wide-ranging interview that the Egyptian statesman and former UN secretary-general gave the Middle East Quarterly in September 1997:

Azzedine Layachi, assistant professor at Saint John's University in New York, wrote the book, "The United States and North Africa: A Cognitive Approach to Foreign Policy" in 1990 (Praeger). In September 1994 he analysed attempts to curb the crisis, possibly with external US help, in an essay for the Middle East Quarterly titled "Algerian Crisis, Western Choices". Though inevitably dated, his essential observations, about parties and political structures, remain as valid as ever:

A Special International Report on Algeria, from the Washington Times, includes this checklist of Algerian parties:

*** For further academic discussion of the development of democracy in Algeria, see under Academic Centres and Publications, below�

The website for the Front Islamique du Salut appears in French and English. FIS won the 1991 elections, but in controversial circumstances, the polls were annulled, and a virtual civil war has ensued ever since. This website includes open letters by FIS leaders to President Bouteflika, the EU, and other notables. It is no longer updated, so readers are referred on to new ones, which we list afterwards.

The site is still useful, however, in maintaining archives of past news, including FIS's own press releases, and those from other sources - interestingly, including the US State Department report on human rights in Algeria. There is also a condemnation by FIS of the 9/11 attacks in the USA. In the same breath, though, FIS lambastes "the opportunism of certain totalitarian Arabic regimes, the Algerian putschist generals being at the forefront", which allegedly exploit such events to attack their opponents (viz. FIS).

Of the two new FIS sites mentioned, probably avoid FisWeb, as it crashes (hackers at work?). Try instead Fis-Info. It appears in English, French, Arabic, and runs an impressive news service. There are also sometimes slow-loading links to a press review (invariably Western articles highlighting the Algerian government's shortcomings), an audio link to El-Ouafa Radio, interactive forums and surveys, "who we are", and a Focus section.

The latest Focus essay is a vast document written by Noura Hamladji, an Algerian researcher at the European University Institute. Published in August 2002, describes how the "Algerian military regime" co-opts the MSP-Hamas party. Its URL appears below as a separate item.

Cornell University Library relays the following short yet revealing interview with Shaikh Abdelbaki Sahraoui, a founder of FIS. Recorded in July 1993, and published by Al-Munkidh (since translated), it is headlined "Algeria Enters a New Djihad Era":

The Middle East Quarterly of September 1996 interviewed Anwar N. Haddam, president of the Parliamentary Delegation Abroad of FIS, in which he discusses democracy, the role of Islam, the use of violence, relations with the West, and the prospect of peace with Israel (which he said he favoured):

Mary-Jane Deeb, former editor of the Middle East Journal, and a UN observer of the Algerian parliamentary elections in June 1997, wrote about "Islam and the Politics of Reform in Algeria". Her article appeared on pages 12-14 of CSIS (Council for Strategic and International Studies) Briefing Notes, September 2000, in a PDF file:

Here is a short but valuable dossier of more critical articles about FIS, culled from publications like Le Nouvel Observateur and El Munkidh:

It belongs in a larger category of archival material, devoted to explaining the phenomenon of Algerian Islamism:

Cross-referred links enhance Megastories' simple but clear Political Islam Guide to Algeria:

Greg Noakes, news editor for the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, wrote a long and worthwhile essay on "Islamism vs. the State in Algeria". Islam Online published it on 28 May 2002. Noakes takes a detailed historical approach, and investigates relations between FIS, Sheikh Mahfoud Nahnah's Algerian Hamas (since renamed Movement for a Peaceful Society - HMI) and more violent wings. He ends optimistically, predicting that "reconciliation" is still possible. Yet he warns "The actions that are taken [by Islamist leaders] and the results they produce will affect Algeria profoundly, but will also have ramifications across the Muslim world":

For Dr. Hamou Amirouche, a former fellow of the Institut National d�Etudes de Strategie Globale (Algiers), the question is: "Algeria's Islamist Revolution: The People Versus Democracy?" His essay of this name appeared in the January 1998 edition of Middle East Policy Journal, Volume V, Number 4. It is reprinted by the Middle East and Islamic Studies Department website of Cornell University.

Amirouche's arresting introduction is worth repeating: "For a former mujaheed like me, nothing is more disheartening than to witness Algeria engulfed again, three decades after gaining independence from France, in a savage war prompted by the same causes, tracing the same contours and unfolding with the same unspeakable brutality":

Amine Tehami believes some form of Islamic state in Algeria is inevitable, though he would prefer a federalist structure, presumably to militate and moderate its effect on the nation. So he argues in a long essay "Ta'addudiyya and Islamism: Lessons from Algeria", hosted by Muwatin, the Palestinian Institute for the Study of Democracy. Delving deep into the ideology of FIS President Abbassi Madani and others, he speaks of malleable Algerian identities, and the 'fact' - as he asserts it - that "Algerian Islamist leadership is, for all intents and purposes, a creation of the regime":

Dr Tassadit Yacine, a lecturer at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, profiles the Hamas phenomenon, as the "moderate face of Algerian Islamism". In November 1995 Hamas leader, Sheikh Mahfoud Nahnah, received more than 25% of the vote. Surprisingly, perhaps, he was endorsed by FIS from abroad, and took second place behind the winner, Liamine Z�roual, in national presidential elections. Yacine's essay comes from a newsletter published by ISIM - the Dutch-based International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World:

By contrast, the Armed Islamic Group (better known by its French acronym, GIA) is decidedly immoderate, and is blamed for much of the awful violence that has plagued the republic in recent years (see "Civil War", below). The Center for Defence Information, USA, released on July 29 2002 a report on GIA. We are told that this report will be updated this month, February 2003:

France's Canal Plus and other sources have argued that GIA was infiltrated from the start by governmental agents provocateurs - charges the Bouteflika administration naturally reject. Below are two Hourriya reports on this saga from late 2002; followed by a transcript of the Canal Plus programme, hosted by Algeria-Watch:

An Australian researcher, Rod Skilbeck, wrote a useful and up-to-date summary of the multiplication of radical Islamist fighting groups in the current lead article of his site devoted to Algeria:

Quintan Wiktorowiczq of Rhodes College considers the international dimension of Algerian and other local religious fanatics, in an essay titled "The New Global Threat - Transnational Salafis and Jihad":

Islamist movements are by no means the only form of opposition to the government of Algeria. For years resentment has been growing in Berber-populated areas - Kabylia in particular - at perceived mistreatment by the Arab majority. At times, clashes between Berbers (in grassroots groups, like Aarouche) and Islamists have been even fiercer than clashes between Berbers and the central authorities.

The fulsome site Kabyle.com now comes in English, as well as Tamazight and French. It lists news, culture, guides, associations, chat forums, history, interviews with prominent figures, archives of past news, and a "Guide to the Berber World":

The website of the Canadian-based World Amazigh Action Coalition (Askar Adukal Amazigh Amadali) has links to human rights, famous personalities, a dictionary, culture, demography, militant (sic) poems, 'Kabylia Today' and declarations and statements from the World Amazigh Congress (CMA). There is also an online art gallery, and links to Algeria, plus other countries where Berbers live, including Egypt, Tunisia, Niger, Morocco, the general Diaspora, and even the Canary Islands:

WAAC founder and president, Blanca Madani, wrote an excoriating indictment of the powerful rulers of Algiers, and their alleged mistreatment of the Berbers/Amazigh of Kabylia. Her footnoted essay, called "Algeria: Stronghold of the Pouvoir", appeared in the May 2001 edition of the Middle East Intelligence Bulletin:

Abderrahim Foukara profiles the Kabyle Berbers of Algeria in the following page from the website, Self-Determination in Focus. It includes a map and links to other sources on the Berber issue in Algeria:

Biographies of party president Sa'id Saadi and other figures appear at the website of the Rassemblement pour le Culture et la Democratie (RCD), alongside communiques, documents and party programme - all in French:

This November 1999 article, from The Middle East (IC Publications), describes the RCD's refusal to compromise with what it deems are dangerous fundamentalists:

While the army "holds the levers of power", secular parties disagree over how to confront the Islamist challenge, explains Lahouari Addi in his article of February 1998, for Le Monde Diplomatique:

The Armee Nationale Populaire, better known as the Free Officers Movement, is a secular nationalist force that criticizes both the Algerian government and army. The site appears in English, French and Arabic:

An alleged incipient revolt against the "dirty war" from within the armed forces may have suffered a setback in February 2001. According to Arabicnews.com, special commandos killed 47 liberal and dissenting officers in their barracks that month, after they had refused to participate in actions against civilians:

The founding fathers of modern Algeria - Ben Bella, Boumedienne and later Chadli Bendjedid - claimed to be 'of the left�. Yet lack of multi-party democracy and ill-considered land confiscation and nationalisation gave the left a neo-Stalinist reputation. In an age of free market prerogatives, Zeroual and other Algerian rulers have shed their leftist veneer, adopted privatisation, and have left the socialist stage to opposition parties. "Leftist Parties of the World" lists six socialist parties from Algeria, and provides web links to sites for four of them:

Algeria Interface runs a fascinating double profile on Louisa Hanoun, president of the Workers' Party, which won 20 seats in the May 30 2002 general elections; and Khalida Messaoudi, Algeria's new minister of culture and communication and government spokesperson. The pair began public life as "feminist sisters" in 1981. Since then, Hanoun has favoured reconciliation between warring factions, whereas Messaoudi has been tarred with the brush of the "eradicationist" (of Islamists) wing of the left. A well-known author, famous for championing the disappeared of Algeria, Hanoun registers about 630 hits on Google. She is currently leading a campaign against the invasion of Iraq, as described recently from La Nouvelle Republique:

A vast website for the Front des Forces Socialistes contains interesting articles in French, including a tribute to the leftist icon, Hocine A�t Ahmed, and details of its busy campaigning:

The powerful Algerian General Workers' Union (UGTA) - once an arm of the ruling FLN - sometimes serves as a repository for leftist opposition. It played a key role in the 1998 general strike, and acts as a brake on government attempts to rush through privatisation. In January 1997 the UGTA secretary-general Abdelhak Benhamouda was assassinated. Initially Islamist enemies of UGTA were blamed, as Benhamouda had led calls to disqualify the FIS electoral victory of 1991; later it emerged that government or renegade military forces may have been behind the slaying. There are numerous references to UGTA on the web, but a useful start (albeit somewhat dated) is this informative page from Country Guides:

The killing of the popular secularist Berber singer, Lounes Matoub, whose songs mocked Islamic radicals and the military machine in equal measure, was a defining moment for many in Kabylia, and throughout Algeria. Here is one site on the issue:

Sometimes the "big issue" - in Algeria's case, war and political instability - obscures smaller trends. According to the Algiers daily Al-Yawm, in late December 2000, one such topic is the way violence is leading some Algerians, especially Berbers, to convert from Islam to Christianity. Translated extracts of the original article were reprinted in the Middle East Quarterly of Summer 2001:

One issue that stands alone is the lamentable violence that has gripped Algeria for the last decade, or more. A good recent introduction to this topic is a long essay from Le Monde Diplomatique of July 2002, by the historian, Mohammed Harbi:

Cornell University's Middle East and Islamic Studies Department hosts an invaluable resource on the crisis, in the shape of its Bibliography of Events Since 1991 [for Algeria]. There are numerous internet links, though one has to search for them. Otherwise, the bibliography is perfect for researchers seeking monographs, essays, articles, serials, audio-visual material and even fiction on this topic. (Parts of this page have been mentioned already):

Med Intelligence lists numerous articles and documents concerning the crisis and the general ideological struggle, at these two websites:

Hichem Aboud's book, "Mafia of the Generals", created quite a stir when it came out in February 2002 (so far, only in French). His thesis is that 11 French-trained Algerian generals are effectively running the "dirty war", have indulged in various assassinations, and even inspired the creation of the GIA. On 10 February 2003 the former intelligence agent turned controversial journalist launched an impressive looking website, Agir Pour Algerie. Below it we list an URL for an Algeria-Watch interview in French with Aboud. Finally, Algeria Interface profiles his book:

Air University has a list of internet resources, books, documents and periodicals on Algerian "terrorist and insurgent groups", in this folder, dated July 2000:

In 1998 Anthony Cordesman wrote "Algeria and The Maghreb: Background Notes on the Rise of Violence and Causes of Instability" for CSIS. It consists of a detailed timeline and analyses of basic issues, and pulls few punches when it comes to describing governmental abuses over the years:

Boutheina Cheriet of the Brookings Institution and Andrew Pierre of Johns Hopkins University held an interesting debate on the Algerian situation, chaired by Charlayne Hunter-Gault, which aired on PBS in January 1997, and published online under the rubric, "Bloodshed in the Desert":

When "The Dirty War" by Habib Souaid�a was published in 2001, it caused much fury, denial, acclamation, and a host of other emotions. According to its Preface, written by the Italian anti-terrorism judge, Ferdinando Imposimato, it is "a distressing account of the Algerian tragedy by one of its protagonists". Souaid�a is a former officer of the special forces charged with combating Islamic terrorism. His book relates his war years from 1992, and the years he spent in prison. Algeria-Watch's reprint of Imposimato's preface powerfully reinforces the view that this conflict has villains on all sides - and a few brave heroes, still seeking justice.

A former Algerian defence minister, retired General Khaled Nezzar, subsequently brought a libel case against Souaid�a last year. Nezzar himself was accused of torture in another case opened in France, in 2001. Amnesty International describes these tangled issues against the murky backdrop of Algeria's ten-year-long war:

Alan Riding of the New York Times reviewed another controversial author in February 2002. A former lifelong Algerian army officer, Mohamed Moulessehoul initially wrote novels under the pseudonym Yasmina Khadra, and then revealed his true self in memoirs "L'�crivain" ("The Writer"). The lives of Moulessehoul and Souaid�a meshed unexpectedly when the former found himself defending the Algerian Army against charges of atrocities from the latter:

In April 1995 James Bruce wrote on Arab Veterans of the Afghan War for Jane's Intelligence Review. Though admittedly a bit dated, his essay (see first URL, below) contains a section on Algeria that remains all too relevant. Likewise with a report from October 1994, courtesy of Global Security; and a more specific essay on insurgency in Algeria until the year 2001.

Finally, Al Hayat published many testimonies in Arabic on Algerian "Afghans". These appear in Cornell University's laudable Bibliography on the Algerian Crisis since 1991. To access, enter "Edit", then the "find in page" button, and type "Afghan":

The 9/11 atrocities led analysts to refocus on former 'Afghan Arabs', including the estimated 2,800 Algerians who saw action in Central Asia. Many of these fighters returned home to swell the ranks of the GIA and similar groups.

Cirta Online hosted a one-year retrospective on 9/11, with a brace of articles tracing the connections, real or imagined, between Al Qaida and the more vicious extremists at work in Algeria. Dated 10 September 2002, and entitled L'Algerie et Les Retombees du 11 Septembre, it opens with an article by Sofiane A�t-Iflis of Le Soir, about the "political crash", and follows with Sofiane Djilali on "America and us":

"Terrorism: Q & A" - a website run by the US Council on Foreign Relations - has two useful pages investigating the GIA. Another page gives extra GIA sources online:

Two reports, the first by Pierre Conesa of Le Monde Diplomatique, in January 2002, the second, by Brian Whitaker and John Hooper of the Guardian, in October 2001, trace the connections between Al Qaida and a rival to the GIA. Called the GSPC or Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat Group and led by Hassan Hatab, this apparent splinter of the GIA has links throughout Europe, possibly to the potential Paris bombers of 1995.

Yet to seasoned terrorism-watchers, Salafists are nothing new - indeed, they feature in the US State Department's Patterns of Global Terrorism 1999, hosted on the FAS website (Federation of American Scientists). And the CNS (Centre for Non-Proliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies) in their January 2003 report, suggests that the GSPC are suspects in London's ricin poison affair:

In December 2002 the New York Times' Steven Weisman described a US decision to sell Algeria military equipment:

For a good review of the current situation, Giles Tremlett of The Guardian wrote about how "Terror thrives in Algeria's climate of bloody conflict" on January 17, 2003. A striking statistic: Algeria is the third largest provider of al-Qaida manpower. Much of his information is derived from Bruce's article for Jane's, mentioned above:

One of the most wanted militants is Kamreddine Kherbane. Currently believed to be ensconced somewhere in the UK, Pour Info Ouvaton provides this profile of the man:

Milton Viorst wrote of "Algeria's Long Night" in the "Foreign Affairs" of November/ December 1997. Only the first 500 words appear, though, and you need permission to view and reprint the rest:

In July 2002 Aomar Ouali reported the slaying by government forces of Rachid Abu Tourab, head of the GIA, for the UK newspaper, The Independent. He noted that Abu Tourab's predecessor, Antar Zouabri, suffered a similar fate in February 2001. In the first week of 2003 he wrote of an Islamist ambush on military convoys and families near Algiers for CBS. At least 56 died, dashing hopes that the terrorist menace was in abeyance:

In December 1995, H. Osman Bencherif, then the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Algeria to the United States, wrote an article for the Middle East Quarterly. He called it "Algeria Faces the Rough Beast", in reference to Yeats' poem, "The Second Coming". Bencherif concluded that Algeria is facing a threat in the form of "totalitarian Islamism", as dangerous as the fascist scourge, which threatened Europe in the late 1930s. Despite being dated, it remains an articulate presentation of official Algerian views on the causes underpinning this most vicious of wars:

Setting the Algerian situation in its North African context, Bruce Maddy-Weitzman wrote an essay, The Islamic Challenge in North Africa, for MERIA Journal Vol 1, Issue 2, in July 1997. Yet the author questions whether the Algerian model really applies to its neighbours. "The level of political stability in North Africa during the next decade will undoubtedly be influenced by the outcome of the Islamist-regime confrontation in Algeria. Still, in retrospect", he surmises, "Algeria has always been sui generis in the Arab world. It had the least distinct historical identity in pre-colonial times of any of the Maghrib's geopolitical units, and indeed perhaps of most of the Arab lands. It experienced the most thorough colonization, the most brutal, violent independence struggle, the application of the Soviet/Eastern European model of development and political organization, and now, the most comprehensive collapse (Lebanon excepted)":

MERIA Journal Volume 2, No. 1, of March 1998, published a striking essay on Algeria's crisis by the Amman-based international columnist and writer for the Jordan Times, Rami G. Khouri. Entitled "Algeria's Terrifying But Unsurprising Agony", it laments how Algerians' "future hopes and expectations [are] mortgaged to the madness of current violence by groups that are widely condemned, but never fully identified". Khouri concludes that violence is nothing new, but has been present for a century and a half. No end is in sight, argues Khouri, until Algeria grapples with elitism, the ravages of colonialism, questions of identity and other problems that provide a fertile seedbed for extremist revolt:

Is Algeria facing a battle between clans, or a class struggle? So asks Ghania Mouffok in a thoughtful essay, in French, published in Le Monde Diplomatique of July 2001:

On 27 June 2001 Meredeth Turshen of Rutgers University wrote an essay for the Association of Concerned African Scholars, entitled "Algeria, Contested and Embattled". It considers both the clash between Islamists and the state, and the concerns of the Berbers of Kabylia:

In May 2001 the New York Times reported the re-eruption of violence in Kabylia, and a month later wrote about how Berber unrest threatened Bouteflika's government:

In seeking to crush the terrorist menace, the Algerian government has employed policies that frequently alarm human rights watchers the world over. Indeed, some of them contend that alleged abuses have proven counterproductive, exacerbating the ire of disgruntled Algerians, and driving them into the arms of militants.

The Spanish group, Derechos/Human Rights, claims to be the first internet-based human rights organisation in the world. Derechos provides possibly the best single page link to reports and articles, NGOs, news and organisational links regarding human rights in Algeria. It also has another page (second link, below) to specific actions taken by The World Organization Against Torture in Algerian cases:

Maghreb des droits de l'Homme runs campaigns and relays news on human rights abuses in the region, including Algeria. All reports are in French, and are especially detailed in the "actualites" pages (2^nd URL listed). The MDDH also hosts a website for the group Le collectif des familles de disparu(e)s en Alg�rie (3^rd URL listed). Finally, the MDHH runs a human rights mailing list (4^th URL listed):

In particular, attention has been drawn to the statement on human rights and Berber national rights, by Mme Salima Ghazali, editor of the banned La Nation. She delivered her address in Paris in February 2002:

Algeria Watch International (not to be confused with Algeria Watch, from Germany, mentioned above) lists a number of her other articles. AWI also hosts many useful links to human rights organisations, breaking news and background data:

See also the Human Rights Watch report on Algeria for 2003. It contains up to date statistics on the death toll in the conflict; plus an ancillary report on land mines:

The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour, U.S. Department of State released a 1999 Country Report on Human Rights Practices (for Algeria), on a website called "Nation by Nation".

The website "Child Soldiers" investigated Algeria via the following colossal URL:

Amnesty International has a newsletter on Algeria (1^st URL, below), an archive of past reports (2^nd URL) and a special section devoted to the worrying phenomenon of "disappeared" people (3^rd URL):

In 1999 Susan Waltz, Visiting Scholar at the Center for Middle East and North African Studies, University of Michigan, described "Human Rights & the Continuing Conflict in Algeria". While accepting the reality of security concerns, she concludes that problems are "only exacerbated when those in authority abuse their power":

Algerian journalists have suffered badly from the crisis. Identified as upholders of bourgeois and alien Western values, members of the "fourth estate" are often attacked, sometimes even assassinated, by religious radicals. Accused of disseminating embarrassing information, their newspapers and activities have been curtailed by military authorities on many occasions. The Committee to Protect Journalists raises protests on their behalf. A special CPJ report (URL below) written by Joel Campagna in March 1999, is an outstanding work of documentation, and an impressive piece of investigative journalism in its own right:

See also the following report of February 2001 (in English, but also available in Arabic) from Reporteurs Sans Frontiers:

That said, Algerian governments have taken steps to address the parlous state of human rights in the country. In 1992 the administration set up the �Observatoire nationale des droits de l�homme� (ONDH). The US government co-operates with this body (1^st URL, below), as does Europe's Barcelona programme for democracy in North Africa and the Mediterranean (see MEDA report, 2^nd URL). Note too the mention of two non-governmental Algerian human rights bodies in this report:

Women and even young girls have been raped, and have suffered other outrageous atrocities arising from the ongoing crisis. Fundamentalists have been known to target women who they feel are too Western in outlook, who work, or who shun the veil. Many feel there is a need for a specifically female voice in Algeria's upper echelons - a voice that is currently seldom heard. Leila Danesh wrote on women in Algerian politics for the Middle East Times:

Information about a (French language) three-day seminar this May on Women and Identity in Algeria is available via this link from L'Universit� d'Oran Es-Senia:

Mounira M. Charrad's 1992 book, "States and Women�s Rights - The Making of Post-colonial Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco", is available in its entirety on line, hosted by the University of California Press, Scholarship Editions:

Under Chapter 4, subsection: civil society, the Library of Congress Research Division's Country Study on Algeria has a section on the women's movement. Elsewhere there is a section on "men and women":

"Women Living under Muslim Laws" lists numerous 'dossiers' on related issues. Only some are hyperlinked, but all have been published in print. Dossier 16 is Zazi Sadou's hard-hitting testimony, called "Algeria: The Martyrdom of Girls Raped by Islamic Armed Groups" (listed second, below):

The Center for Digital Discourse and Culture at Virginia Tech University publishes a bibliography and filmography of links for "Feminism in Algeria", including seven hyperlinked items:

Two expatriate Algerian feminists, Samia Kouider and Djezia Ben, were interviewed for rive, Review of Mediterranean Politics and Culture, and republished under the rubric "Primary Targets" by WIN magazine (Women's International Net). The article concludes with a brief history of Algerian feminism:

CENEAP stands for the Algerian Centre National D'etudes D'analyses Pour la Population et le Developpement. CENAP works with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, and its website contains details of past seminars, study programmes, tables of contents for its past revues, and links to publications:

The following page from Full Moon lists addresses (terrestrial, not internet) of women's organisations in Algeria:

RACHDA (RAssemblement Contre la Hogra et pour les Droits des Alg�riennes) - under its president, Rachida Messaudi - campaigns for women's rights and claims to oppose atrocities by all sides in the "dirty war". It has many sympathisers in Europe:

Finally, Cherifa Ait Benamar of the powerful UGTA trade union (see above) is interviewed about women and the labour movement:

The President's website has a long page devoted to outlining in detail Algeria's relations with the issue of Western Sahara. It takes the form of a chronology:

In May 2001 Mohammad Moqaddem wrote of the rapprochement between Algeria and Mauritania in Al Hayat. The Belgian-based MEDEA published this translation:

Algeria is a key member of the Arab Maghreb Union. Below is the URL for the AMU's official website in French (though the English version is not fully working):

On January 3, 2002, AFP reported that Algeria's Foreign Minister, Abdelaziz Belkhadem, was seeking to restructure and thereby revive the AMU. The organisation has been effectively moribund since 1985, because of disagreements over the Western Sahara issue:

Afrol News ran an article on this long-running dispute in June 2002; and its sidebar links form a useful source for tracking the story:

Global Security's report on Algeria's secret weapons concentrates on the state's nuclear potential and past arms deals:

According to an editorial in the International Herald Tribune, of Friday, January 10, 2003, violence in Algeria threatens to spill across international borders [see Algerian Diaspora, below]. Addressing terrorism at source may require the USA and France arming Algiers. Yet the IHT opines that they could help more by discouraging human rights abuses, improving treatment of the Berber minority, and ending the "dirty war":

Regarding Algerian relations with the U.S., President Bouteflika wrote an op-ed for the Washington Times on November 25, 2002, called "A Friend in Algeria":

Relations were not always so warm: in 1815 Congress declared war on Algeria, but soon after, the US signed a treaty with the Dey of Algiers:

Dr Yahia H. Zoubir, professor of international studies and academic director of the Thunderbird French-Geneva programme, argues that past coolness will give way to warmer ties, based on pragmatic economic considerations, as well as a shared need to combat global terrorism. An excerpt of his essay, "Algeria and U.S. Interests: Containing Radical Islam and Promoting Democracy", appeared in the MEPC Journal of March 2002:

Nor can Algeria's domestic concerns be divorced from possible global ramifications, suggests Bradford Dillman. On June 11, 2002, the Middle East Institute (MEI) published a piece by him called "Algeria�s Parliamentary Elections: Lessons for US Policy in the Arab World":

Blessed with sizeable quantities of oil and natural gas, Algeria may one day enjoy great economic wealth. Two impediments remain, though - the need to spread the gains to a population now approaching 32 million, and the apparently endless wave of violence that thwarts development.

Much more detailed is this excellent page on Algeria's economy, hosted by the US Energy Information Administration, and updated in January 2003:

L'actualite' expertly covers daily news about the economy in French and from Algeria:

The US Department of State's 2001 Country Report on Economic Policy and Trade Practices for Algeria was released in February 2002. Nine pages long, it includes key economic indicators, and covers areas of trade with the USA, debt management, structural policy, foreign investment, workers' rights, financial services and telecommunications (defined as two major bottlenecks) and other topics:

EDIRC (Economics Departments, Institutes and Research Centres in the World) lists links to websites both academic and governmental that deal with Algeria's economy. These include the National Economic and Social Council, and the Bank of Algeria:

Mbendi - Information for Africa - expertly profiles Algeria's giant state oil company, Sonatrach (unfortunately, the company's own website is unstable, so we won't list it):

Algeria's Minister of Energy and Mines, and a former President of OPEC, Chakib Khelil argues that the security of the world's crude oil supply is vital for market stability and for the economic development of poor oil-producing nations, like Algeria. Fathom.com and Columbia [University] Interactive host an audio file and short summary of his speech:

The World Bank online has an Algeria Pathfinder page, which assists researchers track down articles on Algerian economic issues. It also links to searches for specific issues, like foreign investment, poverty and privatisation, and has a pop-up menu that leads to more than 4,000 articles on Algeria written by IMF experts:

"Algeria and the IMF" lists dozens of official news briefings, statements, reports and statistical tables on the Algerian economy, from May 1994 to October 2002:

The Middle East Economic Digest is possibly the most trusted source of economic news and special reports about the region. Their website includes a filter to access specifically Algerian articles, though one still needs to subscribe to the online journal:

CSIS recently published eight separate downloadable reports on The Economics, Population, Trade Pattern, Energy Developments, and Military Balance in the Maghreb (first URL, below). No. VII consists of background notes to violence in Algeria (referred to earlier). No. VIII specifically concern Algeria's economy and energy sector (second URL):

Le Monde Diplomatique's special correspondent, Fay�al Karabadji, wrote in September 1998 about how war and the Mafia threaten Algeria's economy:

George Joff� laments countless missed opportunities in an essay, "The Role of Violence within the Algerian Economy", published in the Journal of North African Studies, 7, 1 (Spring 2002). Democratic reform, more than IMF reforms, might restore much needed confidence from potential foreign investors, he argues. The piece includes a table of basic economic indicators for the years 1999-2002:

The dispersal of Algerians to every corner of the world has spawned numerous Diaspora clubs and associations. Inevitably, websites now accompany these societies. France seems a logical place from which to start, given the thousands of Algerians who live there.

Le Maison des Alg�riens de France was only created in January 2000, yet already has a huge and highly active website, linking immigrants and the offspring of immigrants across the Republic:

Nor do all of them live in Paris or Marseilles. Here is an impressive website for one recently established society, Cadres Algeriens en Rhones-Alps:

According to Rachid Tlem�ani, "The French Have Themselves to Blame" for outbursts of violence, even acts of terror, associated with Algerian immigrants in France. He criticises La Belle France's poor record of integrating Algerians and other Muslims into general society, and defines the general sense of alienation from which migrants traditionally suffer. Tlem�ani also rejects the view that Islamism is some "Algerian import". He wrote about this worrying topic for The Middle East Quarterly in March 1997:

Of course, the first Algerian immigrants to France were the harkis - supporters of the old colonial regime. Over the years they have integrated into French society, with varying success. Many feel betrayed by La Belle France; even their descendants feel attacked from both sides. Hence they regard themselves as distinct from both other Algerians and the native French. A website for the Federation des Familles de Harkis has much illuminating detail on the particular outlook of this community:

Across the Channel, Algerians have been arriving in increasing numbers. Most struggle bravely to make a living in a society that is doubly alien - non-Muslim and non-Francophone. But a spattering of radicals has achieved notoriety, after the riacin poison scare in London, and the stabbing to death of a policeman sent to arrest extremists in Manchester. Clearly their presence embarrasses most UK Algerians, as seen in "Little Algiers in London" - or London's Wood Green, to be precise. Jonathan Duffy's article and BBC programme is as entertaining as it is informative:

On January 16, 2003, Richard Norton-Taylor and Nick Hopkins wrote a long article in The Guardian, on "How Algerian extremists emerged as Danger No. 1":

From the opposite side of the British political spectrum, Rod Liddle, associate editor of The Spectator, queries whether Britain's liberal asylum laws and international obligations are not allowing in some dangerous people - or disallowing their return to Algeria, in particular. At the same time, even Liddle scorns what he depicts as the Conservative Party's policy of, in effect, "lock 'em up on arrival". In his article, dated 25 January 2003 and cheekily entitled "Lunatic Asylum Policy", Liddle speaks of "the pit of hell that is Algeria". As he says, "These days, everybody in Algeria fears for his life � if not from the government, then from the armed and very angry Islamic opposition, much of which has now become a de facto army."

M'hammed Sabour of the University of Joensuu delivered an erudite thesis exploring "The North African intellectual diaspora in the Nordic countries - The socio-political factors of expatriation" at the third Nordic conference on Middle Eastern Studies, in Finland, in June 1995. It is published online by The University of Bergen's Centre for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies:

Certain Algerian exiles clearly prefer to identify along cultural rather than national lines. One example is the Amazigh Cultural Association in America, which features their ancient Berber script on its frontispiece:

Jews have lived in Algeria for nearly two millennia, contributing to the Maghreb's rich social mosaic. On the eve of the Civil War (1954-62), Algerian Jews numbered some 130,000 souls. The vast majority has since left, for Israel, France, Canada and other places. The Jewish Agency's Pedagogic Centre lists seven sites for Algerian Jews, some historical, others more cultural in tenor:

Anti-Semitism and Xenophobia Today (AXT) relays a 1998 report from the UK-based Institute for Jewish Policy Research and American Jewish Committee. It highlights anti-Jewish sentiment amongst some Islamists:

Frank Cass of London used to publish The Journal of Algerian Studies, a yearly journal edited by Hugh Roberts, of the London School of Economics, and Khaoula Taleb-Ibrahami, of the University of Algiers. Sadly, it appears to have ceased publication. But abstracts of articles from back issues of this solely "hard-copy" magazine can be accessed here:

That said, it seem Frank Cass does still publish The Journal of North African Studies, which would naturally cover Algerian issues:

A Society for Algerian Studies operates within CNMES (Centre for Near and Middle Eastern Studies), part of SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London). Though it has no website of its own, contact details are available at the first URL mentioned below. The second is for CNMES itself.

For a list of hyperlinked academic journals on Maghreb affairs (including Algerian), there is a French language webpage, called, beguilingly, Revue des revues sur le Maghreb. It comes from the King Abdul Aziz Al Saud Fondation pour les Etudes Islamiques et les Sciences Humaines, Casablanca, Morocco:

Algeria Watch provides a comprehensive list of Specialists on Algeria, true as of May 1999. Most are based at US or Canadian universities; the list includes a few (but not many) email addresses:

At the website for ERCOMER, a research centre based at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Utrecht University, in the Netherlands, there is news about an interesting research project concerning Algerian migrants. Launched in 1999, and called "Causes of Departure and Experience of Arrival", it investigates the differing experiences of Algerians who seek asylum in Marseilles and London:

Scholars involved with Algeria are invited to join this Yahoo Group. Currently there are just under a hundred messages, and only 51 members. Evidently Yahoo's Algeria Matchmaking Group gets twice that number. Nonetheless, besides the invariable errant notices, you can find scholarly enquiries, announcements of new books, and news of current affairs:

The World Algerian Action Coalition (WAAC) devotes a page to "philosophical articles by Algerian intellectuals":

Columbia University's CIAO network features the views of some leading US academics on Algeria. Evidently these can be accessed for free via university libraries; or for a small subscription privately, through this link:

The University of Michigan's Focus on Algeria website, hosted by the university's Center for Middle Eastern & North African Studies, is well worth a visit. There you will find maps, links, recommended readings and back issues of their magazine. Sadly they last published in February 1999. Yet this issue alone contains much on the presidential elections, endemic violence, privatization, and US-Algerian relations:

The question of democracy in Algeria - or the absence thereof - has given rise to numerous academic articles, a few samples of which appear below.

In the Journal of Democracy (13.4.2002) the seasoned former diplomat, Middle East watcher and now Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia, William B Quandt, wrote an essay entitled "Democratization in the Arab World? - Algeria's Uneasy Peace". He concludes on a note of 'cautious optimism'. Warning outsiders not to dismiss Algeria's attempts to broaden political participation by different sectors - including Islamists - he suggest that "a democratic Algeria, were it to come about soon, could again place the country among the pacesetters for the entire region":

Quandt's book, "Between Ballots and Bullets: Algeria's Transition from Authoritarianism" (1998) can be read online via this Brookings Institute page:

In April 1998 Newal K Agnihotri interviewed Ramtane Lamamra, Ambassador of Algeria to Washington, on the topic "Algeria: Democracy & Liberalization":

Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, a political analyst based in London, wrote a long and well-annotated essay, published in Media Monitors and called "Algeria and the Paradox of Democracy: The 1992 Coup, its Consequences and the Contemporary Crisis". Ahmed is also Director of the Institute for Policy Research & Development and a researcher at the Islamic Human Rights Commission. He concludes by accusing the West of ignoring human rights in Algeria, in favour of "the pre-eminence of what effectively amounts to ruthless economic imperialism":

Other periodical articles and books are recommended on this bibliographical list, compiled by Rod Skilbeck (mentioned in final entry of Islamists, above):

One source strongly recommends the Hoggar Institute for books on the current crisis in Algeria. Here is their home page, which is also available in French and Arabic:

As to Algeria's education system, including universities, UNESCO and the International Association of Universities provides the following handy guide, with some links to the appropriate ministries:

Amongst Algerian universities with working cyber-residences (excluding those which concentrate on the sciences) is the University of Algiers (also available in French and Arabic). Its Politics and Information Science Faculty appears below the general URL:

Much information is available here about academic and research institutions concerning Berber and Amazigh Studies in France:

Though based in Tunis, the Center for Maghrib Studies (CEMAT) hosts Algerian scholars, and produces a newsletter that often dwells on issues of Algerian interest:

CEMAT is in fact the overseas research centre of the American Institute for Maghrib Studies (AIMS), whose chat site ("What is new?") encourages dialogue between academics and provides information on conferences about Algeria. Moreover, their latest newsletter, for Spring 2002 (Volume 4, Issue 2) has information on page 9 about an international colloquium on Algeria. Currently endowed with centers in Tunis and Tangiers, it is said a new one will soon be opening in Oran, Algeria:

To understand Algeria's past, variously glorious and disastrous, perhaps the best point of departure is the following portal page to numerous historical links, hosted by I-CIAS, the online Encyclopaedia of the Orient for North Africa and the Middle East:

The site, World Religions and Cultures (WRC) gives a broad sweep of Algerian history in the first page listed below. Possibly more intriguing is its Basic Facts page (second URL listed) which explores topics - women, religious and ethnic groups, human rights, language, "Arabization", and human rights.

L'Histoire De L'Algerie is a multi-file French language site that lovingly explores Algeria's early history. Starting with the area's unrecorded nomadic past, it traces Berber encounters with the ancient world, the colony of Numidia, the Roman, Vandal and Byzantine invasions, the dawn of Islam and the advent of successive Arab dynasties. It also surveys the port of Algiers down the ages, and lists several links:

Part III of Discover France's websites on Algeria gives a little colonial history, before concentrating on post-independence developments. The parent page has useful statistics, and news links to the All Africa news service:

Elijah Beaver's "Brief History of Algeria" is commendable for its ability to cover so much ground in so little space. The site is hosted by Baylor University:

Columbia Encyclopaedia is the source for this pleasing history - note the embedded links to related items, from the ancient warlord, Jugurtha, to 20^th century nationalists, Ahmed Ben Bella and Houari Boumedienne:

Another curiosity is this site, about the Algerian-Roman philosopher, theologian and Christian saint, Augustine. It considers his life, and an academic conference in Algiers to his memory. Many valuable links are embedded in the text:

Pour Solidarite (mentioned above) hosts folders of historical essays and pivotal documents and declarations. Some go back to 1805; others deal at length with Algeria in World War II; most are devoted to the war for independence 1954-62:

Here begins a useful series of pages, outlining a chronology (in French) to the war of independence:

Many facts about the past are contested, and not least the statistics of dead and wounded in Algeria's war of independence, as Michael White shows in this illuminating little sub-page:

French Yahoo lists 25 sites just on the 1954-62. Note too lists of links to earlier and later histories of Algeria, plus a category devoted to historical personalities:

Arab Infoseek has an enticing series of historical links; unfortunately, not all of them work, but it is still worth clicking around for those that do:

A 1984 report from Global Security investigates at length Operation Musketeer of 1956, the Anglo-French attempt to seize the Suez Canal from Egypt, and its implications for Algeria:

For those seeking deeper insights into Algeria's fascinating history, Historybooks.biz recommends 20 book titles, linking to Amazon for more details:

A good place to start exploring the extraordinary variety of Algerian culture is Marweb Algeria, which has a page that lists 477 links to arts and humanities websites:

Consult the apprentice doctors of Algiers for an extraordinary website, Le Souk, that is full of news, cultural information, humour, and various interactive web facilities:

Le Maison des Alg�riens de France is promoting an exciting cultural programme, Djazair, Une Ann�e Culturelle De L�alg�rie En France (Nov 2002 � Nov 2003):

Inevitably, politics intervenes everywhere. This article from January 2003 describes how some Aarchs (Berbers) of Europe are organising a boycott of the festivities:

Algeria.com (mentioned in the first section) has a culture portal, plus its own online cultural magazine, named after Algeria's most joyfully infectious export, Ra� music:

However, I am reliably informed that Ra� heroes like Cheb Khaled and Cheb Mami, while still popular in certain Paris and London haunts, are considered somewhat pass� in Algiers itself. Over the past decade there has been a boom in Algerian rap and hip hop. Thomas Burkhalter writes in Arts International (AI) about MBS, a rap band that claims to reflect harsh urban realities and the pain of Algeria's ongoing conflict. "Rap is the weapon I use to cleanse my rage", belts some MBS lyrics. Following that are URLs for web pages dealing with similar acts, like Intik, Double Kanon, the Hamma Boys, and the eternally reinvented Rachid Taha:

Call me square, but I prefer the Andalusian charms of Habib and Hassina Guerroumi:

Moving rapidly from the ears to the taste buds, the net provides thousands of websites devoted to Algerian cuisine. Dmoz recommends delicious Algerian recipes on the web, many featuring that triumph of the Maghrebi kitchen, couscous:

Those seeking more "highbrow" stimulation should delve into Algeria's fine literary legacy. The African Writers Index website provides an outstanding introduction to the lives and works of Algerian authors, Arab, Berber and French. Those listed are: Jean Amrouche, Taos Amrouche, Abdelhamid Benhedougga, Kateb Yacine, Jean Senac, Mohamed Dib, Assia Djebar, Franz Fanon, Tahar Ouettar, Mouloud Mammeri, Ahlam Mosteghanemi, Leila Sebbar, Rachid Boudjedra, Mohamed Sari, Tahar Djaout, Rachid Mimouni, Aissa Khelladi, Abdelkader Djema and Malika Mokeddem:

Increasingly, film has become a popular vehicle for Maghrebi cultural expression. Arab Film Distribution's informative page devoted to Algerian cinema includes features, documentaries, and books on film. Amongst items reviewed are Gillo Pontecorvo's 1966 classic, Battle for Algiers (item 18, below), and a more recent work, Living in Paradise - Al Aish Fil Jannah. Produced in 1998 by Bourlem Guerdjou, this latter work is set in a French immigrant shantytown as Algeria's war for independence reached its zenith (item 169)

Even more recent is Merzak Allouche's Algiers-Beirut, although a reviewer for the website, Middle East UK, found it wanting:

Night of Destiny and 100% Arabica are two Algerian films reviewed on this page:

Tamazgha is described as a "starting point for those interested in North Africa, the Amazigh people, their language and culture":

For an insight into the Berbers' world-view, see "The Magic Seed" - Stories, Poems and Proverbs from the Kabyle People, by Taos Amrouche. Excerpts from this book, published in French in 1996 by Editions La D�couverte, appear in English at this site:

Aside from prodigious indigenous creativity, Algeria has long provided haven for geniuses from further afield. The Romanised Christian theologian Augustine is just one example from the past. More recent 20^th century exemplars include the French existentialist author (and former goalkeeper for Algeria's national football squad) Albert Camus; and the Caribbean-born Third World ideologue, Franz Fanon.

A third is the Algerian-born French philosopher of Sephardi Jewish extraction, Jacques Derrida. Amongst several sites on Derrida's Algerian provenance, one could start with Lee Morrissey's essay - Derrida, Algeria, and "Structure, Sign, and Play":

Unsurprisingly, there is a myriad of sites devoted to Camus, and here are a few samples of those that deal specifically with the author's Algerian days. The website Texts for Foreign Translation, for instance, relays colourful excerpts from Jose Lenzini's book, Camus' Algeria, translated from the original French into English:

Others include reviews of the influence of Algeria on Camus, and his book, "The First Man"; Carol Elliot's essay on "The First Man" as a post-colonial work; and a profile of the author in his Algerian setting, from Little Blue Light. There is also Netcrucible's essay explaining why Camus controversially opposed the FLN rebellion when Sartre and other French intellectuals supported it; and a short essay by Clinton Bennet, called "L'Etranger: A Fictional View of Colonial Algeria". Finally, a table of contents for the September 1997 edition of the journal, MLN (Modern Language Notes) entitled Camus 2000, which links to several essays on Camus and Algeria:

Born in Martinique, Frantz Fanon arrived in Algeria in 1952, worked in a psychiatric hospital, and soon was caught up in the revolutionary fervour of the late 1950s, even on one occasion avoiding an attempt on his life. Fanon's Algerian experiences informed his developing views on race, society, history and culture; and his essays on the armed struggle are now considered crucial historical documents. The Finnish literary website, Kirjasto, provides a useful biography of the man and his times:

Here are some other sites linking Fanon to Algeria: a Guardian review in 2001 of David Macey's biography of Fanon; and an essay on Fanon and Terrorism by John Alan, written in October 2002, in the light of 9/11 in News and Letters - Black/Red View. In the same publication, but dated 1999, Lou Turner writes in the Black World column an essay, "40 years since Fanon's Dying Colonialism", which carries interesting insights into Fanon's perception of Algeria's Jewish minority, and its role in the revolution. Carol Posgrove wrote about "Reclaiming Fanon" in the August 2001 edition of American Prospect, where she praises Macey's biography for the way it "resurrects the horror of Algerian war".

But clearly not everyone adores Fanon - witness Robert Fulford's article, from a February 2002 edition of The National Post, which also discusses Macey's book. But this time he does so to prove that Fanon was "a poisonous thinker who refuses to die� whose anger blinded him to the consequences of his words". To Fulford, Fanon papered over the orgy of violence that typified FLN rule, and thus helped set the template for Algeria's current woes:

MERIA is indexed in Index Islamicus and CSA Worldwide Political Science Abstracts.

Staff: Editor: Barry Rubin; Assistant Editors: Cameron Brown, Elisheva Rosman-Stollman, Joy Pincus. London representative: Lawrence Joffe. Canadian representative: Brent Sasley. Turkish representative: Ozgul Erdemli.

MERIA offers you discounts on books and publications. We welcome special arrangements for our readers. To propose articles, items for publication, give others free subscriptions, or other correspondence, write: gloria@idc.ac.il

RESEARCH GUIDE:

Internet Resources on Algeria