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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Donald Trump

HELL WILL REIGN DOWN: Trump Threatens Iran With An End Times Holy War Ripped From The Book Of Revelation If They Don’t Make Peace In 48 Hours

Published

1 day ago

April 4, 2026

Geoffrey Grider

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Trump Warns Iran “All Hell Will Reign Down” In 48 Hours, And That Strange Word Choice May Reveal A Little More Than He Intended

President Donald Trump just dropped one of the most explosive warnings of this entire Iran confrontation, posting on Truth Social: “Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT. Time is running out – 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them. Glory be to GOD! President DONALD J. TRUMP.” Multiple current outlets and live reports quoted that post verbatim on April 4, 2026, as Trump tied the ultimatum to his earlier ten-day deadline over the Strait of Hormuz.

“Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.” Isaiah 14:9 (KJB)

This is not merely another political post. This is the language of countdown, consequence and collision. Trump is telling Iran that the clock is nearly spent, that the deadline is real, and that failure to comply will bring devastating force. The Strait of Hormuz is not some minor patch of water. It is one of the most strategic choke points on the face of the earth, and whenever that narrow passage is threatened, the whole world feels it. Oil markets feel it, shipping lanes feel it, militaries feel it, and world governments feel it. So when Trump says “open up the Hormuz Strait” and attaches a 48-hour warning to it, he is not playing word games. He is putting the entire region on notice.

But there is something else in Trump’s Truth Social post that absolutely jumps off the page. Trump did not say hell would “rain” down. He said hell would reign down. Meaning Hell will begin to rule on Earth.

IS TRUMP HAVING A MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS? IS HE TORTURED BY DEVILS? THIS BOOK WILL TELL YOU, CLICK TO ORDER!!

Now maybe some people will dismiss that as a typo. Maybe it was, I don’t know. But words matter, and when a world leader is issuing a fiery public threat in the middle of a fast-moving regional crisis, every syllable carries weight. “Rain down” would mean destruction falling from above. But “reign down” carries a very different flavor altogether. Reign speaks of rule. Reign speaks of authority. Reign speaks of dominion imposed by superior power. That one word transforms the sentence from a mere threat of attack into something that sounds like judgment descending with force and rule attached to it. That is what makes this so striking. Whether Trump intended it or not, “reign” gives the whole statement an apocalyptic tone. It sounds less like a military response and more like a pronouncement. It sounds like power enthroned. It sounds like punishment backed by dominion. It sounds like the kind of language that reveals the deeper spirit of the moment. America is no longer whispering to Iran through diplomatic back channels. America is standing at the edge of the battlefield, pointing directly at Tehran, and warning that the next move may bring apocalyptic fire.

For years now, the Middle East has been a boiling cauldron, each fresh crisis drawing the nations one step closer to open alignment, open hostility and open war. Iran has long been a chief agent of chaos in the region, using proxies, terror, shipping threats and military posturing to push the entire area toward ignition. Now the Strait of Hormuz once again stands in the center of the storm, and Trump has decided that the time for measured talking points is over.

This is where we are on the end times timeline. Not in an age of peace, but in an age of ultimatums. Not in a season of calm, but in a season of escalation. Not in a world stepping back from the brink, but in one racing toward it. President Trump may indeed see his ‘Hell Will Reign Down’ threat come to pass in ways he’s never dreamt of. Or maybe he will TACO and forget all about it entirely. You never know with Trump.

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

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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

Gospel Witness Billboard Program

Just In Time For Resurrection Sunday, A New Gospel Witness Billboard Proclaiming Salvation Through The Shed Blood Of Jesus Christ On The Cross Goes Up

Published

2 days ago

April 4, 2026

Geoffrey Grider

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On this Resurrection weekend, NTEB is proclaiming new life through the shed blood of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world

The NTEB Gospel Witness Billboard Program continues going at full-speed ahead here in its sixth year of operation, proclaiming new life in Jesus Christ with a message that takes less than 3 seconds to read while traveling past it at an average of 60 miles per hour. We are working on one right now that will go up somewhere in Tennessee shortly, please pray for that, and this one you see in the photo at the top of this article that went up yesterday in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

“In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;” Ephesians 1:7 (KJB)

If you don’t believe that we live in a lost and dying world that has rejected Jesus Christ, just go read today’s headlines for 60 seconds and you will. But it is into this fallen world that Jesus Christ first appeared, and it is into this fallen world that we who are His witnesses are called to bear witness to the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus on the third day according to the scriptures. Our billboards over the past six years have generated more than a billion views, and only the Judgment Seat of Christ will reveal just what manner of fruit was gained through this outreach. Please pray for the Gorzell family at Broken Pieces Ministries whom we partner with in this billboard, that the Lord will give them fruit, more fruit and much fruit for their labours.

How about you, Christian? Will you come and partner with all of us here at Now The End Begins to keep these billboards up? It costs thousands of dollars per month to do it, and we reach millions of people in the process. If God has prospered you, prayerfully consider clicking on the donate link to help us. We can’t do it without you.

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

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

Showing Themselves To Be Neither ‘Decimated’ Nor ‘Obliterated’, Iran Shoots Down American Aircraft At Will As World War Trump Takes A Dark New Turn

Published

2 days ago

April 3, 2026

Geoffrey Grider

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Neither decimated nor obliterated, Iran downs American warplanes and exposes the lie that this widening World War Trump is under control

For weeks now, the American people have been told that Iran was “decimated” and “obliterated,” that its ability to resist had been shattered, and that overwhelming force had already reduced the enemy to rubble. But now the battlefield is answering back with a very different testimony. AP reported Friday that two U.S. military aircraft were shot down as the war escalated, including an F-15E over Iran with one crew member rescued and another still missing. The Washington Post likewise reported that a second U.S. aircraft, an A-10, was also brought down, even as American rescue operations intensified. That is not what “obliterated” looks like. Today marks the single worst day for World War Trump since the conflict began. It only gets worse from this point on, so buckle up.

“From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?” James 4:1 (KJB)

As the skies darken overseas, the Pentagon is being thrown into visible turmoil at home. AP reported yesterday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asked Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George to step down and also dismissed two other generals, adding to a broader pattern of removals among senior military leadership during this widening war. That is what makes this moment so dangerous. America is now watching a war grow more costly and less predictable at the exact same time that the military chain of command is being shaken at the top. Iran is proving it can still strike, still contest the fight, still bloody American power, while Hegseth is purging senior officers in the middle of a regional firestorm. That is not stability. That is not control. That is not confidence. That is a government trying to project strength while the structure underneath it visibly trembles. This is why a Fox News host is not fit to run the Pentagon.

Trump: “We’re flying wherever we want. Nobody is even shooting at us”

Iran: hits US F-15E jet, hits US A-10 plane, forces both F-16 and KC-135 into emergency landings.

Is anyone tired of the lies coming from Washington, or does that MAGA Kool-Aid still taste good? pic.twitter.com/ALanNmoOBO

— Now The End Begins (@NowTheEndBegins) April 3, 2026

What we are seeing is the same old lie that has dragged nations into disaster for generations. First comes the boasting. Then comes the inflated language. Then comes the media chorus repeating that victory is assured, the enemy is broken, and the situation is under control. But war has a way of stripping the paint off every official narrative. Jets fall. Men go missing. Rescue missions are launched. The enemy everyone said was finished keeps fighting. And suddenly all the slogans Trump has been feeding his base don’t sound so convincing anymore.

Hegseth’s role in this only sharpens the sense of disorder. You do not fire top generals in the middle of a shooting war and then expect the public to believe everything is proceeding calmly and according to plan. Maybe the administration calls it accountability. Maybe it calls it reform. But from the outside, it looks like upheaval at the summit while the battlefield below grows hotter by the hour. AP says more than a dozen military leaders have been removed in the past year under Hegseth’s tenure. By any fair standard of reckoning, that’s a purge.

The truly maddening part is that none of this should surprise anybody paying attention. Iran was never going to absorb repeated blows and simply disappear. A regime with missiles, air defenses, regional reach, hardened infrastructure, and ideological resolve was never going to be erased by chest-thumping rhetoric and triumphant press lines. The fantasy was always political. The reality is military. And now the military reality is tearing through the political fantasy in front of the whole world. AP has already reported other Iranian strikes during this war, including an attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia that wounded U.S. troops and damaged aircraft.

So yes, it’s safe to say that this war has taken a dark turn, a very dark turn.

Iran has shown itself to be neither “decimated” nor “obliterated.” It is battered, yes. Pressured, yes. Under attack, yes. But it is still capable of inflicting damage, still capable of challenging American power, and still capable of exposing how hollow the original boasts were. And while that reality unfolds abroad, Pete Hegseth is remaking the Department of War through abrupt removals that only deepen the impression of a war machine under strain.

The message from Washington is strength, command, and dominance, but the message from events is something very different: this thing is slipping, the cost is rising, the leadership is unstable, and the promises made at the beginning are already being swallowed by the flames. That is the dark turn. And once the official story can no longer survive contact with reality, the next thing to die is trust.