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The Islamic Salvation Front ( Political Party in Algeria . History On November 3 , 1988 , the Algerian Constitution was amended to allow parties other than the ruling FLN . The FIS was founded shortly afterwards in Algiers on February 18 , 1989 , led by an elderly sheikh, Abbassi Madani , and a charismatic young mosque preacher, Ali Belhadj . Its views ranged across a wide spectrum of Islamist opinion, exemplified by its two leaders. Abbassi Madani , a professor at University of Algiers and ex-independence fighter, represented a relatively moderate religious conservatism and symbolically connected the party to the Algerian War Of Independence , the traditionally emphasized source of the ruling FLN 's legitimacy. Ali Belhadj a high school teacher appealing to a younger and less educated class, made aggressively radical speeches that attracted dissatisfied lower-class youth and alarmed non-Islamists and feminists. He purportedly represents a Salafi branch. Madani sometimes expressed support for multiparty Democracy , whereas Belhadj denounced it as a potential threat to Sharia . Their support of Free Market trading and opposition to the ruling elite also attracted middle class traders who felt left out of the economy. Their support base rapidly increased, with the help of activists preaching in friendly further energized the party. Although FIS had condemned Saddam Hussein 's invasion of Kuwait , public opinion shifted in Iraq's favor once it was apparent that Western intervention was inevitable, and FIS made political capital out of outdoing the government in gestures opposing Desert Storm , including massive demonstrations, blood donation drives, and even calls for volunteers to fight in Iraq. In May 1991, the FIS called for a general strike to protest the government's redrawing of electoral districts, which it saw as Gerrymandering directed against it. The strike itself was a failure, but the demonstrations FIS organized in Algiers were huge, and succeeded in pressuring the government; it was persuaded in June to call the strike off by the promise of fair parliamentary elections. However, disagreements on the strike provoked open dissension among the FIS leadership (the ''Madjliss ech-Choura''), and the prolonged demonstrations alarmed the military. Shortly afterwards the government arrested Madani and Belhadj on June 30 , 1991 , having already arrested a number of lower-ranking members. The party, however, remained legal, and passed to the effective leadership of Abdelkader Hachani after four days of contested leadership by Mohamed Said (who was then arrested). The rise of the party continued despite the arrests, though its activists were angered as its demands for the leaders' release went unheeded. After some deliberation, it agreed to participate in the next elections, after expelling dissenters such as Said Mekhloufi and Kamareddine Kherbane , who advocated direct action against the government. On December 26 , 1991 , the FIS handily won the First Round Of Parliamentary Elections ; with 48% of the overall popular vote, they won 188 of the 231 seats contested in that round, putting them far ahead of rivals. The army saw the seeming certainty of resulting FIS rule as unacceptable. On January 11 , 1992 , it cancelled the electoral process, forcing President Chadli Bendjedid to resign and bringing in the exiled independence fighter Mohammed Boudiaf to serve as a new president. Many FIS members were arrested, including FIS number three leader Abdelkader Hachani on January 22 . A state of emergency was declared, and the government officially dissolved FIS on March 4 . On July 12 , Abbassi Madani and Ali Belhadj were sentenced to 12 years in prison. Such activists as remained at large took this as a declaration of war, though FIS would not officially call for armed resistance until 1993, attempting to steer a nuanced course of expressing sympathy for the guerrillas without endorsing their actions. Many took to the hills and joined guerrilla groups. The country inexorably slid into a Civil War which would claim more than 100,000 lives, from which it only began to emerge at the end of the 1990s. Initially, the guerrillas were led by members of non-FIS groups, such as Mustafa Bouyali 's supporters and people who had fought in Afghanistan, although FIS itself established an underground network, led by Mohamed Said and Abderrezak Redjam , setting up clandestine newspapers and even a radio station with close links to the MIA. From late 1992, they also began issuing official statements from abroad, led by Rabah Kebir and Anwar Haddam . Soon after taking office in 1994, Zeroual began negotiations with the imprisoned FIS leadership, releasing some prisoners (including such figures as Ali Djeddi and Abdelkader Boukhamkham ) by way of encouragement. These first negotiations collapsed in March, as each accused the other of reneging on agreements; but further, initially secret, negotiations would take place over the following months. As the radical Armed Islamic Group , hostile to FIS as well as to the government, rose to the forefront, FIS-loyalist guerrillas, threatened with marginalization, attempted to unite their forces. In July 1994, the MIA, together with the remainder of the MEI and a variety of smaller groups, united as the Islamic Salvation Army (a term that had previously sometimes been used as a general label for pro-FIS guerrillas), declaring their allegiance to FIS and thus strengthening FIS' hand for the negotiations. It was initially headed by MIA's Abdelkader Chebouti , who was superseded in November 1994 by MEI's Madani Mezrag . By the end of 1994, they controlled over half the guerrillas of the east and west, but barely 20% in the center, near the capital, where the GIA were mainly based. Their main leadership was based in the Beni Khettab mountains near Jijel . It issued communiqués condemning the GIA's indiscriminate targeting of women, journalists, and other civilians "not involved in the repression", and attacking its school arson campaign. Meanwhile, following letters from Madani and Belhadj expressing a commitment to pluralistic democracy and proposing possible solutions to the crisis, the governnment released both from jail to house arrest on September 13 . However, no let up was observed in the fighting, and the government was unwilling to allow them to consult with FIS figures that remained in prison; the negotiations soon foundered, and at the end of October the government announced the failure of the second round of negotiations, and published incriminating letters from Belhadj that were allegedly found on the body of GIA leader Cherif Gousmi, who had been killed on September 26 . A few FIS leaders, notably , Arab ness, and Berber ness as essential aspects of Algerianness, demand for the release of FIS leaders, and an end to extrajudicial killing and torture on all sides. To the surprise of many, even Ali Belhadj endorsed the agreement. However, a crucial signatory was missing: the government itself. As a result, the platform had little if any effect. Despite the government's extremely hostile reaction to the Rome Platform, though, a third attempt at negotiations took place, starting in April with a letter from Madani condemning acts of violence, and hopes were raised. However, the FIS did not offer enough concessions to satisfy the government, demanding, as usual, that FIS leaders should be released before FIS could call for a ceasefire. In July Zeroual announced that the talks had failed, for the last time. In 1995, the GIA turned on the AIS in earnest. Reports of battles between the AIS and GIA increased (resulting in an estimated 60 deaths in March 1995 alone), and the GIA reiterated its death threats against FIS and AIS leaders, claiming to be the "sole prosecutor of jihad" and angered by their negotiation attempts. On July 11 , they assassinated a co-founder of FIS, Abdelbaki Sahraoui , in Paris (although some question the authenticity of their statement claiming credit for this.) The AIS, faced with attacks from both sides and wanting to dissociate itself from the GIA's Civilian Massacres , declared a unilateral ceasefire on September 21 , 1997 (in order to "unveil the enemy who hides behind these abominable massacres" and disbanded in 1999[http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/1999/433/re4.htm . On July 2 , 2003 , Belhadj and Madani were released. (The former had been in jail, the latter had been moved to house arrest in 1997.) Foreign media were banned from covering the event locally, and FIS itself remains banned. However, their release has had little apparent impact. After a decade of vicious civil conflict, there was little enthusiasm in Algeria for reopening old wounds. Goals FIS's founders disagreed (and disagree) on a variety of points, but agreed on the core objective of establishing an 1989 ), and expressed his commitment to democracy and resolve to "respect the minority, even if it is composed of one vote" (''Jeune Afrique'', 12 February 1990 ), while Belhadj said simply that "There is no democracy in Islam" (''El-Bayane'', Dec. 1989) and "If people vote against the Law of God... this is nothing other than blasphemy. The ulama will order the death of the offenders who have substituted their authority for that of God" (''Horizons'' 23 February 1989 ). Its current platform (as of 2002 ) can be read online ( PDF ), although events have made it relatively irrelevant; this document sets forth 43 "values and principles". |