No specific information on the procedures followed by the army in cases of desertion could be found in the sources consulted within the time constraints of this Response. However, for information on desertion, please see the Algerian military justice code (Code de justice militaire algérien) included in the Research Directorate's 1999 information package entitled Lois et décrets sur le service national en Algérie, available at the Regional Documentation Centres.

No information on a recall of officers on 15 November 1997 could be found in the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. For information on recalls in 1997, see DZA34363.F of 29 June 2000.

Please see also DZA33386.F of 6 December 1999 for information about whether deserters are included in the amnesty proclaimed by the Algerian President.

In addition, the Kuna News Agency states that in early January 2000, negotiations apparently took place between Hassan Hattab, the leader of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (Groupe salafiste de la prédication et le combat-GSPC), and the Government, with the aim of concluding an agreement similar to that signed by the Islamic Salvation Army (Armée islamique du salut-AIS), an armed group that has laid down its arms (Kuna 30 Jan. 2000). The negotiations apparently failed because the Algerian government refused to grant amnesty to members of the GSPC who had deserted in 1994 to join forces with Hassan Hattab (ibid.).

The Xinhua News Agency also reports that the amnesty proclaimed by the Algerian president with respect to armed groups does not apply to army deserters who have joined armed groups (15 Jan. 2000).

It should be noted that a group of former Algerian officers have formed the Algerian Movement of Free Officers (Mouvement Algérien des officiers libres-MAOL), based in Madrid (Arabies Mar. 2000). According to Arabies, these dissident Algerian officers [translation] "...began to move into the fringe of the military establishment starting in 1993.... MAOL uses the Internet (www.anp.org) to disseminate information, to its members in exile or still serving in Algeria, about corruption, electoral fraud and massacres perpetrated or instigated by the armed forces" (ibid.). In February 2000, one of its leaders, Colonel B. Ali, who lives in Spain and has gone underground, stated in an interview with two journalists from El País that in 1998, the Algerian intelligence service had eliminated dissident army officers in a sham airplane accident (El País 17-23 Feb. 2000). Colonel B. Ali left Algeria shortly afterwards (ibid.). He also stated in the interview that there had been two attempts to abduct him in Madrid (ibid.). According to the colonel, [translation] "MAOL is present in all the military regions in Algeria and in addition includes close to 70 members in exile, settled for the most part in Eastern European countries.... Five deserters are in London, three in Germany, four in Canada and three in New York" (ibid.).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Arabies [Paris]. March 2000. S. S. "Le 'MOAL'".

Kuna News Agency [Kuwait City, in Arabic]. 30 January 2000. "Extremist Group Leader Hattab Killed by his Aides." (BBC Summary 31 Jan. 2000/NEXIS)

El País [Madrid, in Spanish]. 17-23 February 2000. J. C. Sanz and I. Cembrero. "Algérie: paroles d'un dissident de l'armée." (Courrier International)

Xinhua News Agency. 15 January 2000. "Rebel Faction Halts Peace Talks in Algeria." (NEXIS)

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB Databases

Algeria Country Assessment, Home Office, London

Amnesty International Reports

Human Rights Watch Reports

World News Connection (WNC)

Internet sites, including:

Africa News

BBC News

FIDH

Human Rights Watch Online

Mouvement algérien des officiers libres (MAOL)

Search engines:

Fastsearch

Google

Metacrawler

One oral source did not provide any information withing the time constraints of this Response.

Another oral source had no recent information about the above-mentioned topics.