Algeria: Salafist imams cancel meetings in mosques to avoid Al-Qaeda threats

Imams belonging to the Salafist movement in Algeria have recently been obliged to cancel their meetings in different mosques in Algiers and other towns due to Al-Qaeda threats, sources close to the imams reported.

Imams belonging to the Salafist movement in Algeria have recently been obliged to cancel their meetings in different mosques in Algiers and other towns due to Al-Qaeda threats, sources close to the imams reported.

The so-called Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb led by Abdelmalek Droudkel (Musab Abdelouadoud) would have threatened those imams as their fatwa poses threat to the terrorist organization. 

 A large number of armed people have surrendered because they were convinced they must stop the terrorist acts. Others have been based on the fatwa in discrediting the legitimacy of suicide attacks. They confirm that there is no religious base to justify the suicide attacks. Some others play the role of mediators with authorities to help their fellows to surrender.

 These assemblies and meetings have undergone strict security measures in mosques.”The security measures are normal meant to secure public places including mosques,” a security official told Echorouk.  

An official at Algerian religious affairs ministry denied that the ministry is behind the decision to stop the meetings especially that many imams who belong to the Salafist movement had complained to the Algerian religious affairs minister Ghoulam Ellah.  “Their work is only for invocation,” they explained. 

 Those indications show that the command of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb tends to target the mediators of the National Reconciliation and kill the Salafist symbols who disturb its acts.