US volte face on Algerian massacre probe

The State Department on Monday had called for an international inquiry to determine who is behind the massacres that have claimed hundreds of lives in the past two weeks.

The call prompted the Algerian Foreign Ministry to summon US Ambassador Cameron Hume the following day for a meeting at which he was told that no international probe into massacres would be welcome.

But Algerian officials told Hume they would consider a visit by a UN rapporteur, the State Department said.

“We encouraged this step,” Foley reiterated on Friday.

On Thursday UN diplomats and UN officials said the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson planned to send a representative to Algeria as a first step towards an investigation of the massacres.The rapporteur would have a clearly-defined mandate and would not seek to establish who are the perpetrators of the violence that has escalated recently, diplomatic sources said.

Foley’s remarks marked a significant climbdown from the State Department’s appeal on Monday for an international inquiry and for further steps to be taken by the Algerian government to protect civilians.

“At this point, we would like to see the government do more to protect its civilians while respecting the rule of law, and we would like to see an international inquiry get to the bottom of it,” State Department spokesman James Rubin said on Monday.

Algeria is wary of any foreign interest in what it regards as a domestic conflict, and it has repeatedly turned down pressure for an international inquiry into the bloodshed.

The State Department also said it supports an upcoming mission by the European Union to Algiers.

“We share the concerns of the EU and other nations in the international community with regard to the massacres in Algeria and the need to gain a clearer picture of what is happening in Algeria,” Foley said.

Algiers has bristled at US remarks that it was unclear who was behind the attacks. Those statements were seen as lending credence to reports that Algerian government forces had participated in the violence to foment instability.

The Algerian government blames Islamic extremists — particularly the notorious Armed Islamic Group — for a horrific string of massacres in poor, isolated village s in western Algeria’s Ouarsenis mountains.

Some 600 have died, according to unconfirmed press reports in Algiers, adding to a toll that has surpassed 60,000 since the Army in 1992 cancelled elections that Islamists were poised to win.

The bloodshed is the worst seen during any Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting, a time when armed groups in Algeria step up their violence.