'Disappeared' plea to France

'Disappeared' plea to France

By Mohamed Arezki Himeur
BBC, Algiers

An Algerian group has urged France to put pressure on the government over the thousands of people who "disappeared" during the decade-long conflict with Islamic groups.

SOS Disparus (SOS Disappeared), which represents the families of those who went missing, wants French President Jacques Chirac to raise the issue during his visit this weekend to the former French colony.

The war shows no sign of ending

On Thursday, New York-based lobby group Human Rights Watch blamed both the government security services and the armed Islamic groups for kidnapping innocent civilians.

The number of people who have gone missing in Algeria since the beginning of the 1990s varies between 5,000 and 10,000.

SOS Disparus says that it has received assurances from the French authorities that the issue will be raised when Mr Chirac meets Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

No reconciliation

SOS Disparus adds that there cannot be any real national reconciliation in Algeria if the problem is not solved.

The effects of Algeria's civil war are now being felt abroad too

Human Rights Watch accused the security services of having kidnapped more than 7,000 people - the highest number of such cases in any country of the world apart from Bosnia.

Human Rights Watch has also blamed armed Islamic groups for the disappearance of hundreds if not thousands of people.

Speaking in Parliament in May 2001, Interior Minister Nouredinne Yazid Zerhouni admitted that 4,800 cases of missing people had been officially recorded by the victims' families.

Mr Zerhouni then said that almost 1,000 cases had been solved - without revealing the identities of the people involved.