Headline News

Arab Spring Is Now Targeting Algeria

Algeria’s Islamists, in the political wilderness since their last attempt to win power dissolved into civil war, are now trying again, galvanized by the success of their brethren elsewhere in north Africa in the wake of the Arab Spring.

Published

14 years ago

December 8, 2011

Geoffrey Grider

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(Reuters) – Algeria’s Islamists, in the political wilderness since their last attempt to win power dissolved into civil war, are now trying again, galvanized by the success of their brethren elsewhere in north Africa in the wake of the “Arab Spring”.

Riot policemen clash with university students from marching during a demonstration in which they demand political change in Algiers May 2, 2011. Credit: Reuters/Zohra Bensemra

Most Islamists in Algeria have been excluded from political life since the conflict, but in the past few months they have shown renewed signs of activity, much of it conducted from exile to dodge the attentions of the Algerian state.

They have set up a satellite television station based in Europe, sent delegations to Arab countries that saw revolutions this year, and made tentative forays into anti-government protests.

Their chances of success are slim: they are divided into rival ideological camps, hemmed in by the powerful Algerian security apparatus, and, most importantly, discredited in the eyes of many people by a conflict in which they took part and which killed an estimated 200,000 people.

But they see an opportunity in the upheavals of the “Arab Spring,” which have this year unseated entrenched secularist leaders. In neighboring Tunisia, a previously outlawed Islamist movement has come to power, while in Egypt Islamists have taken a strong early lead in multi-stage parliamentary elections.

“Tunisia was an example and launcher of this (Arab Spring) revolution,” said Abdullah Anas, a London-based member of the leadership council of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), which is banned in Algeria.

“It could be a very good example for Algeria.”

LEGACY OF VIOLENCE

Any Islamist revival in Algeria, an OPEC member and supplier of about a fifth of Europe’s imported gas, would have first to shed the burden of the country’s bloody history.

Twenty years ago, FIS was poised to win a legislative election, called after street protests forced the authorities to loosen their grip on power. FIS said it would impose an Islamic state.

The military-backed government stepped in to annul the election. The Islamists took up arms and Algeria slipped into a conflict of horrific violence. Civilians had their throats slit in the street; in the mornings, people woke up to find their towns littered with bodies.

A rump of Islamists, now operating under the banner of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, is still fighting. They periodically ambush security forces in the countryside, kidnap Westerners and stage suicide bombings.

But the violence has subsided considerably. A huge security crackdown has rounded up thousands of insurgents. Others have laid down their arms and been granted an amnesty, in exchange for an undertaking to stay out of politics.

This legacy is the biggest obstacle to any comeback by Algeria’s Islamists.

“Since then (the conflict), the Islamist was no longer seen as a hero who stands up against tyranny,” said Soheib Bencheikh, a theologian who used to be the chief cleric at the mosque in Marseilles, France, where there is a large Algerian community.

“On the contrary, he became, in the eyes of public opinion, accountable for the pain and suffering of the people,” Bencheikh told Reuters.

A fear of a return to violence helps explain why Algeria has this year remained relatively calm while neighboring countries have been convulsed by unrest.

TV STATION

But the Islamists still believe that Algeria is ripe for change, and are beginning to take practical steps.

Starting in November, a group of exiled Islamists with links to FIS set up a Europe-based television station, called Rachad TV. Carried by the Atlantic Bird 7 and Nilesat satellites , the station can be picked up in Algeria, where most homes have a dish.

It broadcasts political and social programs where opposition leaders and activists — most of them harshly critical of the government — are invited to comment on Algeria.

At the top of the station’s homepage on the Internet, there is a link to show viewers “how to free your country”, and a second link to help them “organize and participate in unrest.”

The exiles say they are also building contacts with other countries where “Arab Spring” revolts have propelled Islamists into a position of power.

Rachad says on its website that it sent a delegation to Libya in late September to meet officials in the new government, in which Islamists have a prominent role.

Abdullah Anas, the exiled Islamist in London, said there had also been contacts with Rachid Ghannouchi, the head of the moderate Islamist Ennahda party. Since an election in October his party leads Tunisia’s coalition government.

Tunisia’s experience had proved that it is possible to open up the political space in north Africa, said Anas.

“Everyone in Algeria must understand that Algeria has room for all … no matter what opinions you have,” he said, calling for a lifting of political curbs and the possibility of power-sharing between previously antagonistic groups.

SALAFISTS STIRRING

Inside Algeria, the most influential Islamist force are the Salafists, followers of an ultra-purist interpretation of Islam. Unlike the FIS, they are tolerated by the Algerian state because their creed forbids participation in politics.

When Algeria was shaken at the beginning of this year by protests sparked by a spike in food prices, the spiritual leader of the Algerian Salafists, Abdelmalek Ramdani, who lives in Saudi Arabia, issued a religious decree.

It said: “As long as the commander of the nation is a Muslim, you must obey and listen to him. Those who are against him are just seeking to replace him, and this is not licit.”

Nevertheless, there are stirrings of political activity by some Salafist preachers.

Sheikh Abdelfateh Zeraoui, a former FIS member and now a well-known Salafist preacher in the Algerian capital, issued a declaration in October saying the government had to enact urgent reforms.

“Political reforms allowing us to have free political activity are key to the stability of the country. Without reforms the country may explode,” the declaration stated.

The preacher has also tried to organize protest marches in the capital, but these have been blocked by the security forces. “We have been barred from politics,” he told Reuters.

The fact that Algerian Islamists are divided dilutes their ability to stage a comeback, said Mohamed Mouloudi, an editor and specialist on Islam.

“They are no longer speaking with one voice,” Mouloudi told Reuters.

“You have the Salafists, the Muslim brotherhood, and the Djaz’airists,(who give priority to Algerian religious traditions) among others,” he said. “You have those who are for a political action, and those who consider political action as illicit.”

SUCCESSION DEBATE

Even so, a debate is now under way in earnest within the Algerian ruling elite, for the first time since the conflict began 20 years ago, about giving Islamists a role in politics.

The focus for that debate — which, like much of Algerian politics, is conducted behind closed doors — is the question of who will succeed President Abdelaziz Bouteflika when his final term ends in 2014.

One camp within the elite is backing Abdelaziz Belkhadem, a former prime minister and secretary general of the ruling FLN party. He is a secularist but is trusted by the Islamists. Opposing him is a camp of hardline secularists who have backing from the powerful security forces.

Friction spilled out into the open when a group of Belkhadem opponents inside the FLN launched a campaign to have him removed from the party leadership.

“It will be wise to promote a man like Abdelaziz Belkhadem who has good ties with Islamists as well as with decision makers inside the regime,” said Mohamed Lagab, a secularist academic at Algiers university.

“Decision makers should take into account that North Africa will be ruled by Islamists ,” said Lagab. source – Reuters

Related Topics:Algeria arab Islamists spring

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Free Bible Program

The Massive High Security Miami Correctional Facility And ICE Detainee Center In Bunker Hill, Indiana, Needs King James Bibles For Its 3,188 Inmates

Published

1 day ago

March 4, 2026

Geoffrey Grider

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The Miami Correctional Facility in Indiana needs King James and Spanish Bibles for their thousands of inmates and ICE detainees

The Miami Correctional Facility, situated near Bunker Hill, Indiana, on the grounds of the Grissom Joint Air Reserve Base, was established in 1998 as a state prison. This facility accommodates adult males and includes inmates with high, medium, and minimum-security classifications. Miami is the largest prison in Indiana, boasting a capacity to house 3,188 prisoners when at full occupancy, including ICE detainees. Man, oh man, if you’re looking for fertile ground to start planting the seeds of the gospel, this is it.

“But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Matthew 13:8,9 (KJB)

Chaplain Blair writes: “Our incarcerated population is currently about 1000 listed as General Christian or Catholic. We offer services each week lead by Chaplains and/or outside volunteers. Offenders are able to attend multiple times per week and often request bibles for personal use. Our ICE detainee population is about 400 General Christian or Catholic. Services are ran to match the incarcerated population (citizens legally incarcerated). We are a level 3 / level 4 prison, meaning we are classified as medium-high to high security. Most of the population are between the ages of 20-40. All religious materials we as Chaplains can distribute must come from outside donations from organizations like yours.” Christian, can you get excited by all this? Here is our opportunity to send the preserved word of God into a facility filled to overflowing with Catholics, ICE detainees and Christian and non-Christian inmates. Talk about going into all the world with the gospel. Bibles Behind Bars was raised up for this exact purpose, for such a time as this. Come help us to keep the supply lines open at the Miami Correctional Facility!

HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page

If God has prospered you, please take a moment to click on the donate button to help us in this monumental task of providing King James Bibles, New Testaments, scripture portions, gospel tracts as well as Spanish Bibles to inmates in jails and prisons from Florida to Alaska, and every state in between. We need your prayers, we need your generous financial support, and we need you to stand with us in the closing days of the Church Age. Thank you so very much, TO THE FIGHT!!!

NOTE: If you need a 501 C3 Letter of Donation for tax purposes, please send your donation to:

NTEB Ministries
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Ste. 1272-129
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Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORT…TO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

Christian Nationalism

Watchdog Group Says Combat Unit Commanders Telling Troops That Donald Trump Has Been ‘Anointed By Jesus To Light The Fire In Iran For Armageddon’

Published

2 days ago

March 3, 2026

Geoffrey Grider

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Combat Unit commanders have been accused of telling troops that Donald Trump is anointed by God and the war with Iran is to bring in Armageddon

Well, it’s official, we’ve arrived in Crazy Town, and it’s exactly as you would expect it to be. Operation Epic Fury is revealing itself to be a hastily-arranged and very poorly planned operation that Trump now says could last for many months. And earlier today a religious watchdog group received over 200 complaints from soldiers being told by their Combat Unit commanders that President Trump has been ‘anointed to light the fire in Iran that will bring Armageddon and the return of Jesus Christ’. Wow, are we there already? It would seem so, Now don’t shoot the messenger, I don’t make the news, I’m just telling you what’s going on here on Day 2,178 of 15 Days To Flatten The Curve. It’s Christian Nationalism out of control.

“Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.” Daniel 11:39 (KJB)

If even a fraction of these reports are accurate that commanders inside the Department of War are framing geopolitical conflict as the spark that lights Armageddon and preparing troops for the return of Jesus Christ — then we are looking at something profoundly dangerous. Not because prophecy isn’t real, and not because Jesus Christ isn’t coming back. He absolutely is. But because the Church has no business trying to manufacture the Second Coming through military power. Let’s be absolutely clear: the return of Jesus Christ is not triggered by American foreign policy, presidential ambition, or battlefield rhetoric. The prophetic timeline is set by God Almighty, not by generals, politicians, or Christian Nationalist enthusiasm. Armageddon is not something a nation prepares for. It is something God executes on His schedule.

“Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.” Isaiah 40:15 (KJB)

Christian Nationalism, at its core, attempts to merge the mission of the Church with the power of the State. It confuses patriotism with piety and assumes that America plays the central prophetic role in God’s end-times program. It does not. America joins all the other nations of the world to come against Israel. America is not Israel, the United States is not the New Jerusalem, and the United States Constitution, however wonderful we might think it to be, is not Scripture. If Donald Trump has been anointed by God to do anything, at this point, it looks like he might be the one to trigger WWIII.

Trump’s commanders tell troops to prepare for Jesus’ return and issue chilling Armageddon prophecy

FROM THE DAILY MAIL UK: The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), a non-profit civil rights watchdog, said it has received 110 complaints from troops since the war broke out on Saturday. The complaints span more than 40 different units across 30 military sites, first reported on veteran journalist Jonathan Larsen’s Substack. A non-commissioned officer (NCO) wrote to the MRFF Monday that his combat-unit commander had claimed Trump was ‘anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth.’

‘He urged us to tell our troops that this was “all part of God’s divine plan” and he specifically referenced numerous citations out of the Book of Revelation referring to Armageddon and the imminent return of Jesus Christ,’ the NCO said.

The NCO, anonymized by MRFF, said they were writing on behalf of 15 others, including 11 Christians, a Muslim and a Jew. The troops are currently outside the Iran theater but on ‘ready-support’ status, meaning they could be deployed at any time. The NCO said that their commander’s comments ‘destroy morale and unit cohesion and are in violation of the oaths we swore to support the Constitution.’

A White House official denied that commanders were giving orders based on end times scripture, adding that the war had three aims: destroy Iran’s missiles, munitions industry and navy. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The religious tenor at the top of the military is not confined to the battlefield.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a born-again Christian, holds monthly prayer meetings at the Pentagon and attends a weekly Bible study at the White House led by a preacher who argues that God blesses those who support Israel. Trump’s longtime spiritual adviser, Paula White, has made similar claims for decades, urging Christians to ‘stand with Israel’.

Pastor John Hagee, who visited the White House multiple times during Trump’s first term, told his congregation on Sunday that the war with Iran signaled we are nearing the end times. ‘Prophetically, we’re right on cue,’ Hagee said. ‘Sirens are wailing and prophecies written thousands of years ago are stepping onto the world stage.’

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee claimed that Trump would receive a message from God shortly before the strikes on Iran in June.

‘I believe you will hear from heaven and that voice is far more important than mine or anyone else’s,’ he wrote to Trump. ‘You did not seek this moment. This moment sought you.’

The killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a US-Israeli joint strike on Saturday has plunged the Middle East into crisis. Iranian forces have launched missiles and drones at US embassies and bases across the Middle East, as well as against Israel and America’s Arab allies including Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Trump initially said the war would last four to five weeks but has since warned it could go on ‘far longer.’ READ MORE

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

Headline News

As The Death Toll Of America Soldiers Continues To Rise, Ongoing Iranian Missile Attacks Are Posing An Unforeseen And Formidable Challenge To US Military

Published

2 days ago

March 3, 2026

Geoffrey Grider

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The United States is facing increasing risks to its military forces and diplomatic presence in the Middle East as Iran is launching waves of missile and drone attacks across the region that are testing its ability to defend a swath of territory.

Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine had advised President Trump and top officials that a military campaign against Iran could carry significant risks, in particular the possibility of becoming entangled in a prolonged conflict, Trump brushed that advice off and said it would be an easy win. Now only 5 days into the conflict, it’s looking like Trump should have taken his general’s advice. Estimates have gone from days, to weeks, and now months before Operation Epic Fury might conclude. Are we looking at Gulf War 3? Are we looking at World War 3? Everything is on the table right now.

“Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?” Luke 14:31 (KJB)

Pray for the brave men and women of our military, they have been put in harm’s way, and to date 6 soldiers have died in Operation Epic Fury. Iran is putting up much more resistance than Secretary of War Pete Hegseth led us to believe. In fact, the United States government closed its embassies in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait on Tuesday and ordered nonessential staff in several other countries to evacuate as Iran expanded its retaliatory attacks on U.S. targets in the Gulf region. Worse than that, after last year’s strike on Iran, the Department of War failed to restock its supply of missile interceptors which hover right now at a dangerously low point. It’s looking more and more likely that ground troops will be needed to complete the mission, something that I do not think the American public wants to see. I love our military, and support them 1,000% percent, but they have been put into a highly unfavorable position with the ‘Lethalitymaxxing’ grandstanding nonsense of incompetents like Pete Hegseth and his cosplay war machine warrior ethos marketing. We need real leaders or this thing could go very bad very fast. Now is the time to pray for our leaders, that God would save them and give them His wisdom, and pray for America who just may be drawn into a war that nobody wants on our 250th anniversary.

NOW IS THE PERFECT TIME FOR YOU TO BE HANDING OUT GOSPEL TRACTS, CLICK TO ORDER NOW!!

Iranian Drones and Missiles Challenge Stretched U.S. Forces

FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: U.S. Central Command said that six servicemembers had been killed in the three-day-old campaign on Monday. The six died in a drone strike on a base in Kuwait, The Wall Street Journal reported. Separately, three American F-15 jets were downed by apparent friendly fire over Kuwait on Monday, in one of the most significant losses of equipment for the U.S. in the operation. Bases that house U.S. forces have also come under attack in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

“We have a very finite number of certain munitions,” said Daniel Byman, the director of the Warfare, Irregular Threats and Terrorism Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “The other thing is, there’s, there’s a lot to defend.”

The challenge for U.S. forces is handling Iranian attacks across a huge swath of the Middle East while trying to coordinate air defense with local allies. In addition to defending tens of thousands of American troops stationed in the region, the U.S. must also defend dozens of its embassies and other government installations. In the early hours of Tuesday, the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh was struck by drones, sustaining minor damage.

Iran’s stockpiles of short- and medium-range missiles, as well as swarms of explosive Shahed drones and electronic-warfare capabilities, pose a formidable threat to U.S. military bases in the region, said Ravi Chaudhary, a former assistant secretary of the Air Force in charge of installations.

“U.S. installations are going to be tested like never before in this particular conflict,” he said. “Our adversaries have demonstrated the intent and capability to go after our critical infrastructure to disrupt the ability of the United States to project air power.”

That challenge is mounting as Iran is widening its campaign of missile and drone strikes to include infrastructure that pumps much of the world’s oil and gas supply. An Iranian drone attack set fire to an important Saudi oil hub while Iranian strikes forced a halt to production of liquefied natural gas in Qatar, one of the world’s largest exporters. Iranian threats have all but stopped shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil chokepoint which connects the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean.

Those facilities are defended by both U.S. and local air defenses that are now facing their most difficult test ever. U.S. commanders in the region oversee coalition air defenses that include local partners, but both have been overwhelmed at times by Iranian missiles and drones in recent days.

The depth of Iran’s stockpiles, which include inexpensive drones that it can produce at scale, point to one area where it could try to outlast the U.S., which is facing a shortage of munitions for its Patriot and Thaad missile defenses. But the U.S. has other challenges in mounting its defense. Before the conflict, Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned the White House that a fight with Iran risks American casualties and could deplete munitions needed for future conflicts with adversaries like China. READ MORE

President Trump sending mixed messages on the war in Iran and how it will end

The Trump administration offering evolving rationale for Operation Epic Fury in Iran while the president insists the United States will “easily prevail.”