The banditry that hides behind a religious façade (see this column in EUROPE 10768) is denounced and rejected by Muslims themselves, who assert faithfulness and admiration for their true religious culture - of which terrorism is only a deviation. Let me report on the attitude of a well-known Arab intellectual and that of Algeria - a double contribution to mutual understanding between Europe and the Muslim world.
An Arab intellectual gives his opinion. Tahar Ben Jelloun, when taking position on the events in Mali and on the dramatic Algerian events, was explicit and extremely tough. He described those who were responsible as “cut-throats without faith or law (…) bandits and murderers at the disposal of veiled and mysterious leaders who possess an enormous heritage and who use Islam as the outward sign of their crimes”. For them it is only money that counts and they essentially have two “methods to get hold of it” - drug trafficking and hostages. A third source is trafficking illegal migrants from Africa”. Ben Jelloun adds that Islam has nothing to do with all this and that the Jihadists are applying certain precepts from Sharia law in the most barbarous way - cutting off hands and feet and stoning women. Ben Jelloun gives the impression of knowing the situation well.
The Algerian authorities are explicit. Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal has been very clear: “We are facing an affair of terrorists and mercenaries who compromise the very existence of Muslim countries. We must protect our religion and our civilisation that the terrorists are destroying (…) In Algeria we are suffering the consequences of what is happening beyond our borders.” He added that no Algerian soldier will be deployed anywhere except on Algerian territory. The minister of education stated that Algeria had a duty of defence in the face of a foreign attack and that recent history demands that no discussion ever be held with terrorists who have “attacked the wealth of a country” and who must not be encouraged through accepting dialogue.
The lie destroyed. The Algerian prime minister furthermore destroyed the lie that the terrorist attack constituted a response to the operations of French aviation in North Mali. In reality the terrorist attack required two months of preparation - the commando had crossed the whole border area between Algeria, Mali and Niger in order to get into Libya and reach the Algerian gas site situated on the border. The plan was to attack the bus of foreigners working on the site in order to kidnap them and take them directly to Mali, and to use them as a bargaining chip. But the police who were escorting the vehicle foiled the plan and the terrorists headed towards the gas installations, setting off the drama that we all now know about. Mr Sellal added that the bandits had a heavy and sophisticated weapon and that they intended to blow up the whole site. They had detailed plans of the base and of the plant, and without the intervention of the Algerian military the consequences would have been much more disastrous. He also explained the authorisation granted to France to fly over the Algerian territory by the resolution of the UN Security Council in support of military action in Mali.
In Mr Sellal's opinion “terrorism will never happen in Algeria. We are ready to lose everything except our dignity”.
Let me add that it is normal that the Algerian attitude be guided by the national interest and that a certain amount of rhetoric appear in Mr Sellal's statements. Yet the painful list of foreigners murdered on the ground proves that countries from the whole world - including the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom - are cooperating with Algeria. And Algiers' reaction with regard to the terrorists speaks loud and clear.
(FR/transl.fl)