Algeria: Oppositon Parties Agree to Presidential Talks

PARIS -- Two important Algerian opposition parties have opened talks with Algerian President Liamine Zeroual, and a third has accepted his invitation, suggesting that the recent army crackdown on radical Islamic groups has begun to soften the positions of the government's more moderate foes.


The decision by the Socialist Forces Front, one of the main secular opposition groups, the former ruling National Liberation Front and Nahda, a legal Islamic movement, to hold talks with the military-backed government has also raised hopes that the three-year-old civil war can be stopped at the negotiating table. But many hurdles remain.


The reason for the optimism is that the three were among eight opposition parties, including the outlawed Islamic Salvation Front, that had signed an accord in January in Rome saying they were willing to negotiate only if the government, among other things, releases political prisoners and promises to allow an interim government to take over.


Algerian government officials rejected that proposal and instead launched a major military offensive in the past two weeks against strongholds of the Islamic guerrillas. The death toll ranged from hundreds to more than 2,500, according to newspapers there.


The goal was to break the back of the opposition, create a peaceful climate for elections -- which Zeroual has promised by the end of the year -- and lure more moderate government foes to the table.


An Algerian newspaper said Sunday that Zeroual's troops may have nearly eliminated the radical Armed Islamic Group, which has claimed responsibility for attacks on civilians and foreigners.


The Algerian army annulled the last round of elections, in 1992, leading to the current civil war, which has claimed an estimated 30,000 lives and sent thousands fleeing to other countries. The Islamic Salvation Front, or FIS, had been on the verge of winning that election.


The decision by the three opposition groups to accept Zeroual's invitation marked the first public split among the eight Rome signatories. Although Western governments had urged the Algerian government to seriously consider the Rome proposal, it refused.


Instead, Zeroual said he wanted to organize his own elections this year, apparently hoping to co-opt enough of the opposition parties to make it appear democratic. With that goal in mind, Zeroual had issued the invitations to his opponents, and the parties cited a new willingness to compromise on the part of the military-backed government.