Many Algerians listened to al-Qaeda deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri's recent audiotape with dismay, particularly over the language he used to justify terrorist operations against Algeria and other Muslim nations. Twin attacks last December 11th against the offices of UNHCR and the Constitutional Court in Algiers left 41 people – mostly Algerians – dead. The al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for the attacks. In his audio taped message, released Wednesday (April 2nd), al-Zawahiri responded to a question allegedly posed by an Algerian medical student about why the UN offices in Algiers had been attacked. "The United Nations is an enemy of Islam," the terrorist leader replied. He went on to say the Algerians killed in the attacks were not innocent victims, instead calling them "crusader unbelievers and the government troops who defend them".
Algerians expressed their dismay over these interpretations. One observer said the terrorist leader used these descriptions of the victims in order to "hide his hand, which has been stained with Algerian blood".
Azzedine Essalami, a young public employee in Algiers, said al-Zawahiri's justifications cannot be accepted by sensible people. He said the attacks are a form of terrorism, whether targeting security elements, civilians, or UN employees. "As for we Algerians," he continued, "who suffered from the deterioration of the security situation in the 1990s, we can't buy into such 'sayings'. He says that they are not targeting innocent people. So were the people killed in all the recent terrorist operations not innocent? They are trying to justify the unjustifiable."
Thirty-year-old Yacine told Magharebia he simply is not interested in the messages issued by the terrorists, and that he wouldn't hear their statements or read them in newspapers. "I know in advance that whatever he is going to say will not convince me," he said. "This is because of my strong conviction of the barbarianism of their acts."
Nouwara, who narrowly escaped the December 11th bombings, was surprised at what al-Zawahiri said. She invited him to have a look at the list of victims so that he may know their identities. "His ideology is bankrupt. The victims of those bombings are people living in the popular neighbourhood of Belcourt, and the only reason they joined the UN organisation was to work there to support their families," she added.
Journalist Mounir Abi, a writer specialising in the affairs of armed Islamist groups, said that Ayman al-Zawahiri's statement reflects his "takfirist" ideology that is based on erroneous religious doctrine. He added that al-Zawahiri's statement represents a declaration to Algeria that "you're either with us or against us". Abi challenged the ideological foundations of the attacks, saying they had no religious, doctrinal or legal justifications. "UN employees, whether in Algeria or in any other place around the world, are innocent people... just doing purely humanitarian missions."
Reacting to al-Zawahiri's statements, the Arab League condemned the content of the message, deeming his accusations against the UN "irresponsible" and "an offence" against Arab countries. A spokesman for the Arab League said Friday that "Arab countries, which are calling on the UN to enhance its role and to bear its responsibility towards the Palestinian issue, cannot accept that such irresponsible charges be made against it."