B3-1701, 1709, 1731, 1732, 1753 and 1776/93

Resolution on the situation in Algeria and the killing of foreigners there

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the its various resolutions on the situation in Algeria, the defence of human rights and the growth of fundamentalism in the countries on the southern shores of the Mediterranean,

A.whereas, after its independence, Algeria was a country which offered asylum to many international refugees,

B.having regard to the efforts made by the Algerian authorities to establish a process of national dialogue with the various political movements but having regard also to the fact that the policy of the government has led to the violation of human rights,

C.shocked at the message issued by militants of the FIS (Islamic Salvation Front) living abroad, demanding that foreign residents in Algeria leave the country by 1 December 1993,

D.aware that since the date when, according to the terrorists, all foreigners should have left Algeria, eleven of them have been murdered and aware also that there have been hundreds of Algerian victims,

E.whereas the climate of terror created by the fundamentalists has resulted in the hurried departure from Algeria of some 5000 foreigners, most of them citizens of Member States of the European Union,

F.drawing attention to the denunciation of terrorism made by many Islamic leaders,

1.Pays tribute to the victims and offers its condolences to their families;

2.Strongly condemns these acts of barbarity which are plunging Algerian society into backwardness and poverty;

3.Observes that several Member States are sheltering FIS activists who, like Rabah Kebbir (head of the FIS outside Algeria) in Germany, are publicly expressing their support for this violence; draws the attention of the Algerian authorities to the fact that the use of the death penalty in Algeria makes it impossible to extradite to their country of origin fundamentalist leaders in Europe who express their support for the violence;

4.Calls on Member States not to allow fundamentalist leaders who have taken refuge in them to set up terrorist back-up units and on the Council to coordinate the actions of Member States in liaison with the Algerian Government;

5.Supports the process of dialogue and democratization undertaken by the Algerian authorities with a view to implementing an economic and social programme to bring the country out of the grave crisis in which it finds itself;

6.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the Government of Algeria and the Secretaries-General of the Arab League and the Conference of Islamic States.