Algeria Frees Jailed Radical Islamist Leaders

Two jailed leaders of Algeria's banned Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) were freed on Wednesday after being held since 1992, when elections their party was poised to win were scrapped, triggering a decade of bloodshed.

Party chief Abassi Madani and deputy Ali Belhadj were released after serving 12-year prison terms for threatening state security, FIS official Kemel Guemezi told Reuters.

Authorities said in statements that Madani, 72, and Belhadj, 47, were barred from political activity and that Madani signed the release conditions while Belhadj refused.

It was unclear what this meant for Belhadj, who also declined police protection.

"Don't fear, be confident. Algeria belongs to Algerians," he told a group of cheering supporters in the capital Algiers.

The FIS, which sought to create an Islamist state, gradually lost influence after it was outlawed in 1992. Ordinary Algerians are now more concerned with earning a living as was evident by the limited show of support on Wednesday.

But some parts of the political elite fear the FIS leaders may reignite the Islamist flame ahead of presidential elections in April 2004.

Politicians and intellectuals who campaigned for their release said it was a necessary move for reconciliation in the largely Muslim North African country of 32 million inhabitants.

The two were detained in 1991 and sentenced in 1992.

Madani had been under house arrest in Algiers since 1997 while the younger and more popular Belhadj, a preacher known for his inflammatory sermons, had been held at a military prison 30 km (18 miles) south of Algiers.

Belhadj, wearing a gray Djalaba robe and white hat, went straight to his local mosque in Algiers' Kouba district to pray where some 100 followers greeted him.

"This is a very happy day for us. We have been expecting the release for a long time," Abdelmalek Aniss, 37, told Reuters at the mosque where there was also a large police presence.

The pair were arrested shortly before army-backed authorities scrapped the second round of the 1992 legislative elections. Between 100,000 and 150,000 are estimated to have died in the resulting violence.

Families of victims have condemned the releases, saying Belhadj was responsible for the deaths of thousands of Algerians killed by rebels inspired by his speeches.

"The chiefs of assassins return," newspaper Le Matin splashed across its cover.

Speaking on behalf of the leaders, FIS member Ali Djeddi told reporters: "We reassure people who fear, that the FIS will do its utmost to help bring stability to this country."

After the cancellation of the poll, Islamist radicals led by the hardline Armed Islamic Group (GIA) fought to overthrow the government. Diehard FIS activists were among them.

Over the past two years the level of violence has dropped sharply, bringing back foreign investment and a return to normality for many Algerians.