Shaykh Abbasi Madani, the leader of the Algerian Islamic movement, passed away in Qatar on Wednesday (April 24). He was 88.
Following Salatul Janaza (funeral prayers) in Doha, capital of Qatar, his body was flown to Algiers for burial today (April 27).
Shaykh Madani was the founder and leader of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) established in 1988. It successfully challenged the regime of Chadhli Benjeddid in 1989-1991 that was mired in corruption and gross mismanagement.
Despite Algeria’s vast oil wealth, the elite including the military that was and remains the de facto ruler of the country pilfered this wealth causing widespread poverty.
Most FIS leaders were highly qualified with PhDs or Masters degrees.
Shaykh Madani himself had a PhD in Education from the University of London (1978). After completing his studies, he returned to Algeria to resume his teaching career at the University of Algiers.
The Islamic Salvation Front became the voice of the oppressed and the regime was forced, after weeks of large but peaceful protests, to allow the movement to operate as a legal entity.
In the municipal elections in 1990, FIS virtually swept all the municipalities causing alarm not only in Algeria’s secular circles but also in such Western capitals as Paris, London and Washington—the evil trio.
In the first round of parliamentary elections on December 26, 1991, the FIS slate of candidates again swept the polls by securing 188 out of 231 seats.
The second round was slated for a month later and it was certain that FIS would win most of the seats in the next round as well.
Neither the West nor their secular puppets in Algeria would allow an Islamic movement to take over power.
While there was worldwide euphoria in Islamic circles at FIS’ victory in the first round of elections with hopes that an Islamic movement would take power, Crescent International had warned in an editorial as early as May 15, 1991, that one of the following scenarios was likely to emerge.
First, the military would not allow the FIS to participate in December’s parliamentary elections. If they cannot be prevented from participating, then electoral boundaries would be manipulated to deny it victory. If even that fails and FIS sweeps the polls, the military will be unleashed, all FIS leaders arrested and thrown in jail and the movement brutally crushed.
This is precisely what happened in Algeria. In fact, just days prior to the military crackdown, the Sunday Times of London in a scandalous headline had raised the bogey that Saddam Hussein’s regime had secretly passed nuclear knowhow to Algeria (January 5, 1992).
The implication was that Algeria led by an Islamic government would soon have a nuclear bomb!
This was a complete and utter lie, published as bold headline on the front page of a leading British daily. But that was to be expected.
The London Times is a front for British intelligence, as indeed are most media outlets in the West. They peddle lies fed to them by Western intelligence agencies.
Saddam had no nuclear know-how or technology. This had already been dismantled under the brutal sanctions regime that following America’s war on Iraq in January 1991.
The Times headline was meant to conjure up the specter of a Muslim country governed by the Islamic movement acquiring a nuclear bomb!
There was panic in Western capitals at the prospect of the Islamic movement taking over power in another Muslim country. One Muslim country (Iran) was one too many for them.
They would not allow it so the Algerian military was unleashed.
The French—Algeria’s former colonial masters—gave defence minister Khaled Nezzar the go-ahead to stage a coup and crush the Islamic movement.
Martial law was declared in Algeria and a brutal crackdown followed. All FIS leaders were arrested and thrown in jail.
Hundreds of thousands of largely peaceful protesters were murdered. In fact, the regime’s intelligence agents infiltrated the movement and perpetrated horrific crimes in an attempt to discredit the movement.
The regime’s agent provocateurs massacred innocent civilians in remote villages in the most brutal manner. Most of those murdered were supporters of FIS.
This was confirmed in a series of articles in the British daily, The Independent in November 1997. Algerian intelligence agents sickened by the brutal murders they were forced to commit, fled the country and sought refuge in France where the British daily interviewed them.
After murdering an estimated 300,000 people and tens of thousands of others simply disappeared—most certainly also killed—the regime was able to crush the movement.
Shaykh Madani was released from prison in 1997 but FIS was banned.
In 2003, he went to Qatar for treatment and stayed there until his death on April 24.
In a 1990 video, Shaykh Madani had summarized the revolutionary struggle of Algeria in the following words.
“Either Algeria remains the Algeria of the French, or it becomes the Algeria of the Muslims. As soon as the people wake up and choose Islam, it will be just a matter of time.”
He also castigated France (and the West in general) for its double standards on the issue of democracy. The West is for democracy only when it likes the winner.
Shaykh Madani’s words were:
“They ban the democracy march because when democracy is for France, it is YES, but when it is for Algeria it is NO. So we are still colonized.”
This is not only true for Algeria, the entire Muslim world falls into this category.