The Jihadist Movement and Hirak in Algeria
recent years .” 15 Since then , in contradiction to al-Annabi ’ s assertions , the Algerian security services have twice announced , notably in July 2019 , the arrest in the city of Batna of individuals linked to terrorism who were preparing attacks against demonstrators . It should be noted that , this time , no denial was issued . In this regard , Kherief considers that “ Khenchla and Batna are transit areas where an endemic presence of armed groups still persists .” Consequently , one can still expect such actions here and there , but AQIM no longer has the critical mass to carry out spectacular actions . Thus , armed groups , such as the one arrested in July 2019 in Batna , were cut off from their command and operated without directives , attacking targets such as the Hirak in order to signal their presence .
Thus , because of its weakening on the ground , AQIM cannot aspire to a recuperation of the popular movement and simply announced its support for it without further ado .
Absence of a Request for a Revolutionary Theocratic Project
Among the principal slogans of Hirak , that of dawla madaniya , machi askariya ( one civil state , not military ) figures prominently with that of Djazaier dimoucratiya ( democratic Algeria ), both of which are taken up by the different components of the movement , including those of the Islamist currents , the latter including , in full light , Ulemas and members of the former Islamic Salvation Front ( FIS ). These demonstrators of the “ Islamist squares ” repeated , in a loop , these slogans carried by the whole of Hirak , while affirming , at the same time , their non-contradictory attachment to Islamic principles and freedom . These same demonstrators bore the portrait of Abdelkader Hachani , former leader of the FIS , assassinated in November 1999 for having , in particular , supported the process of negotiations aimed at ending the civil war and initiated by the Algerian authorities . They also bore the portrait of Taleb Ibrahimi , chanting in unison , al-Chaab youteleb Taleb ( the people demand Taleb ). This former Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs , reputed to be “ Islamic-conservative ,” claims to be for democracy and against violence . There is no trace of him in the slogans of Dawla Islamiya , i . e ., Islamic state , or even sharia . More generally , Hirak was made to bring about the emergence of a second republic , against authoritarianism and corruption . This movement was formed against the monopolization of political power by a group since , in the majority of slogans , the word issaba ( band ) is the leitmotif . From then on and clearly , there is a rejection of any political project that contradicts these aspirations and that would automatically be assimilated to “ a counter-revolutionary project ,” the Hirak conceiving of itself as a revolution .
Worse , the Islamist movements themselves claim democracy . In this respect , a member of a ( non-Islamist ) political party active in the Hirak , and in contact with this Islamist fringe of the movement , confirms that “ the Islamists
15 Conversation with the Author , July 2019 .
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