End Algerian tragedy

The recent carnage in Algeria has put this North African country in the spotlight. The government in Algiers has been blamed for its inability to protect its people from acts of terror that have ravaged the country over the past six years, claiming the lives of more than 65,000 innocent people.

This time, the Organization of Islamic Conference and the Arab League have joined the United Nations and Western countries in condemning the brutal killings in Algeria, which have escalated since Dec. 30, the start of the Moslem holy month of Ramadhan.

Condemning the genocides as un-Islamic, OIC stated that: "The Islamic faith absolutely rejects such evil deeds which have been forbidden by all heavenly religions, whatever their motives or justification may be."

More than 1,000 people have been slaughtered in the first two weeks of Ramadhan, and hundreds of others were injured in those acts of terror, allegedly committed by armed groups of the outlawed Islamic Salvation Front (FIS).

The Algerian government denied on Tuesday that the death toll of last Sunday's massacre was more than 400 -- as widely reported by Algerian newspapers -- sticking to the figure of 103 dead and 70 wounded, similar to the unprecedented announcement made by the state-run APS news agency a day earlier.

Despite the denial in the number of victims, it is nevertheless a tacit acknowledgement by the Algiers government of the recent escalation of brutal killings in the country.

Confronted with this grisly fact, and with added international pressure to help end the tragedy, Algeria has eventually agreed to allow a European Union (EU) troika mission, which is scheduled to visit Algeria in the next few days, to explore the kind of help it can offer the Algerian government to stem further bloodshed. The mission, comprising senior diplomats from Britain, Luxembourg and Austria -- the current, last, and next holders of EU's rotating presidency -- is expected to report back to EU's foreign ministers at their monthly meeting on Jan. 26.

It is expected that the EU officials will work independently and cooperate with diplomats from the Arab world, who reportedly will also visit Algeria for a similar purpose, so as to avoid any impression of intervening in Algeria's domestic affairs.

Both the Western and Arab delegations, for humanitarian reasons, should adopt a firm stance in persuading the Algiers government to take concrete measures to protect its people from becoming targets of further massacres, considering that the military-backed government of President Liamine Zeroual has proven to be ineffective in combating years of violence.

Equally important for the missions to undertake is to find out who the culprits are amid allegations that the security troops could also be implicated in the countless massacres in Algeria so as to tarnish the image of FIS members.

Another persuasive measure which the EU and Arab officials could ask of the Algiers government is to hold talks on national reconciliation, something which has been repeatedly proposed by FIS, as well as by other political forces in this country of 29 million people, so as to stop the brutal killings once and for all.

If that happens, the Algerians, especially those living in rural areas and in provinces believed to be dominated by the radicals, will no longer live in fear and uncertainty. They instead can contribute much to Algeria's economy and development.