182. Karen ArmstrongAfter the electoral victories at the local level, they seemed
certain to succeed in the legislative elections that were sched-
uled for 1992.
There was to be no Islamic government in Algeria, how-
ever. The military staged a coup, ousted the liberal FLN
President Benjedid (who had promised democratic reforms),
suppressed FIS, and threw its leaders into prison. Had elec-
tions been prevented in such a violent and unconstitutional
manner in Iran and Pakistan, there would have been an out-
cry in the West. Such a coup would have been seen as an ex-
ample of Islam's supposedly endemic aversion to democracy,
and its basic incompatibility with the modern world. But be-
cause it was an Islamic government that had been thwarted by
the coup, there was jubilation in the Western press. Algeria
had been saved from the Islamic menace; the bars, casinos and
discotheques of Algiers had been spared; and in some myste-
rious way, this undemocratic action had made Algeria safe for
democracy. The French government threw its support behind
the new hardHne FLN of President Liamine Zeroual and
strengthened his resolve to hold no further dialogue with FIS.
Not surprisingly, the Muslim world was shocked by this fresh
instance of Western double standards.
The result was tragically predictable. Pushed outside the
due processes of law, outraged, and despairing of justice, the
more radical members of FIS broke away to form a guerrilla
organization, the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), and began a
terror campaign in the mountainous regions south of Al-
giers. There were massacres, in which the population of en-
tire villages was killed. Journalists and intellectuals, secular
and religious, were also targeted. It was generally assumed
that the Islamists were wholly responsible for these atroci-
ties, but gradually questions were asked which pointed to the
fact that some elements in the Algerian military forces not
only acquiesced but also participated in the killing to dis-