US embassy cable - 05ALGIERS1410

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ALGIERS 001410 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/11/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PTER, KISL, AG, Algeria-Europe Relations 
SUBJECT: ALGERIAN VIEWS ON LONDON BOMBINGS 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard W. Erdman, 
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
SUMMARY AND COMMENT 
-------------------- 
 
1.  (C) Algerians, judging from comments made to Embassy 
staff, press commentaries and other press reporting since the 
London bombings of July 7, have drawn three main conclusions 
about these terrorist attacks.  First, the bombings should 
come as no surprise and were a natural consequence of the 
United Kingdom's sheltering of Islamist terrorist elements 
over recent years, despite Algeria's provision of information 
about specific individuals linked to Algerian terrorist 
groups.  Second, if the West wants to end terrorism, it must 
address the core causes of Muslims' grievances, namely the 
Palestinian situation and the continued violence in Iraq. 
Third, many innocent Muslims living abroad -- especially 
those in Britain -- will suffer for the acts of a malignant 
few. 
 
2.  (C) We note that many Algerians continue to believe that 
the West recognized the dangers of terrorism only after the 
September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.  Having felt 
abandoned by the West (and by the Arab World) before 9/11, 
Algerians view these most recent attacks as a natural 
consequence of British failure to get tough on terrorism 
sooner, along with ongoing British and U.S. intervention in 
Iraq, and what is perceived as inattentiveness in Western 
capitals to resolving the Palestinian issue.  That Algerians 
living in Britain and elsewhere may suffer guilt by 
association from the bombings in London further underscores 
Algerians' continued sense of alienation, frustration, and 
victimization.  (End summary and comment.) 
 
 
BOMBINGS SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN A SURPRISE 
---------------------------------------- 
 
3. (C) In remarks over dinner with DCM July 10, retired 
Colonel Mohammed Tabet, military attache to the Algerian 
Embassy in Washington during the height of Algeria's 1990s 
decade of terrorism, said the GOA had been telling the 
British Government for years that the Salafist Group for 
Preaching and Combat (GSPC) and Armed Islamic Group (GIA) 
members granted asylum during this time period in the United 
Kingdom were very dangerous.  He commented that it was common 
practice for extremists wanted in Algeria to raise money for 
terrorist causes in London's Hyde Park.  The colonel noted 
that Britain had not been alone in pursuing lenient policies 
toward terrorists.  He mentioned the case of Anouar Haddam, a 
former professor and Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) spokesman, 
who was granted asylum by the U.S., where he continues to 
live.  Haddam, said Tabet, was perhaps best known for 
regretting the deaths of innocents in the bombing of civilian 
targets, but justifying them as a necessary price and 
consequence of the Islamic struggle in Algeria. 
 
4.  (U) In a public statement carried in July 10 press 
reports, Algerian Police Commander Ali Tounsi accused Britain 
of "leniency toward Algerian terrorists," claiming there was 
an effective agreement between the British and members of the 
Armed Islamic Group (GIA) residing in Britain, which "gave 
terrorists the opportunity to promote, in London parks, armed 
activities perpetrated in Algeria, as long as they did not 
engage in violence on British soil."  Tounsi's remarks gave 
credence to the widespread belief here that Britain had 
reaped the seeds it had sown in adhering to a lenient policy 
toward Islamic extremists.  Tounsi underscored this by 
pointing out that the British "should have expected blasts of 
such magnitude." 
 
5.  (C) Continuing on this theme, one FLN member of 
parliament privately told us:  "What happened in London is 
dramatic, but did the English consider the risks of allowing 
'Londonstan' to develop?  Was giving shelter to terrorists a 
good solution?  The British thought that sheltering 
terrorists was a good solution, but they did not realize that 
one can never align oneself with the devil, and they did 
precisely that for years and years." 
 
ROOT CAUSES LIE IN IRAQ AND PALESTINE 
------------------------------------- 
 
6.  (U) In a July 9 editorial, the French-language daily 
L'Expression summed up the view of many Algerians: 
"...Religious extremism, which...is not the expression of a 
nation, even less of the Muslim nations, is the desperate 
manifestation of a feeling of humiliation and a perceptible 
Western contempt toward the two major issues for Muslims, 
Palestine and Iraq...."  A separate July 10 editorial in the 
leading French-language daily El Watan stuck up the same 
theme:  "...Islamists...feed the violence against innocent 
civilians on five continents.  The first (issue employed) is 
the Palestinian issue.  Young Arabs and Muslims are 
scandalized by the injustice that has been done to the 
Palestinian people....(Second,) the invasion of Iraq by the 
Americans is going to give new strength to Islamist 
terrorism.  There the latter will find a new pretext to 
mobilize young people who are disappointed, marginalized, and 
without points of reference....(Last,) the absence of 
democracy in the Arab world is another factor that 
contributes to the emergence of fundamentalism.  The Arab 
regimes have set up systems that stifle all freedoms.  The 
only places they are not managing to control are the 
mosques." 
 
ALGERIANS ABROAD WILL SUFFER FOR THE ACTS OF A FEW 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
7.  (U) The mother of a young Algerian living illegally in 
London told us:  "It's terrible to think about what happened 
because hundreds of Algerians who aren't in Britain legally 
will live a nightmare.  I am truly afraid that a massive wave 
of Algerian expulsions is about to occur (in Britain)."  A 
young physician, commenting to us that many Algerians had 
left Paris for London because it was so much easier to find 
affordable housing in the British capital, said, "Now Britain 
will be closed to us.  These terrorists ended the dreams of 
many young Algerians who wanted to try the English 
adventure." 
 
ERDMAN