Malekite and Ibadite Notables: “Berriane is not Darfur… the root of the conflict is not ethnic, sectarian or racial”.

The Notables of the Malekite and Ibadite councils have told the newspaper “Echorouk Al Yaoumi” that the conflict opposing the two Mozabite communities (the Ibadites) and Arab speaking (Malekites) in the town of Berriane in Ghardaia province, south of Algeria, is not racial, sectarian or ethnic in nature because the 2 communities living there share the same religion –Islam- which advocates brotherhood, unity, cohesion and solidarity.

• According to these Notables, the latest violent incidents in Berriane were stoked by certain still unidentified “troublemakers” who are intent on sowing the seeds of discord and hatred between the members of the 2 communities who lived, until a recent past, in perfect peace and harmony.
• They said that the inter-community divergences should be settled through dialogue and mutual understanding by banishing all forms of violence which does not serve, at all, the interests of the citizens of Berriane from all walks of life.                                           
• They further stressed that these “nefarious troublemakers”, who are still at large, were fuelling violence in a bid to destabilize the whole region by exacerbating the security situation to the hilt in  the Berriane districts.
• Reporters of “Echorouk” visited yesterday the area where they saw for themselves the serious damage provoked by the violent street clashes between rival groups over the past few days which left 2 dead and 58 wounded, according to official casualty-figures.
• Back-up Gendarmerie forces and anti-riot policemen have been deployed in the 4 corners of the embattled city in a bid to restore law and order and avert a new outbreak of violence.
• The situation in the town is now calm but a simmering tension is still in the air.
• Our reporters also met during their assignment there with the oldest Notable of the Malekite council of Berriane Cheikh Tahar Ibrahim, who expressed utter sadness at these tragic events which jolted this southern Algerian town causing many victims and widespread material damage.
• Cheikh Tahar Ibrahim seized this opportunity to pin the blame for these tragic incidents on the Malekite and Ibadite Notables and the religious scholars of the province of Ghardaia who have, he said, failed dismally to help settle the divergences existing between the 2 communities in what he called “a spirit of brotherhood and wisdom”, as dictated by the religion of Islam, in order to uproot discord, once and for all, and restore peace and quietude in the Berriane area before it is too late.