Mohamed Aissa: “Algeria Will Not Be A Scene For Sectarian Strife”

Algeria government fears of the infiltration of the Qadiani community in Algeria and its security penetration through the affiliation of members of ISIS in its ranks, Minister of Religious Affairs, Mohamed Aissa, said during a symposium that brought together ambassadors and diplomats who agreed that the Ahmadiya community is more of a security threat than an ideological one.

“Algerian state has no intention of fight the followers of the Ahmadiya sect. Charges against its members are not related to the practice of religious rites, but to engaging in an unlicensed association, fundraising without a license, and the presence of members of a terrorist organization and terrorist groups in their ranks. Ahmadis in Algeria were quick to include elements of terrorist organizations in their ranks”, a statement that means that the government feared a security breach more than the sectarian spread of this category.

During a lecture that was organized by the Diplomatic Institute and International Relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Tuesday on the “freedom of belief in Algeria”, between religious extremism and sectarian deviation, the minister revealed that he received correspondence from the representatives of the Islamic Group of the Ahmadiya in Britain, on the allegations of narrowing the activities of their followers in Algeria by the country’s authorities, in addition to the “reservation” to the embassy of one of the countries on Algeria’s classification of this sect within the Takfiri groups.

“My response was in both cases that Algeria has no intention to fight the Ahmadiya, but authorities refuse to let some doctrines make of Algeria a land of their conflicts, and we refuse to be a part of sectarian conflicts”.

“Our ministerial services are ready to listen to the Ahmadis, within the framework of the laws of the Republic. This sect could negotiate as an Muslim group, because the fatwa that is adopted by Algeria was issued by the former President of the Supreme Islamic Council, Ahmad Hamani, and it considers this sect a takfiri group”.

Relihious Affairs Minister spoke, during the same conference, with the Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister, Ramtan Lamamra, the Minister of Maghreb Affairs, the African Union and the League of Arab States, Abdelkader Messahel, and representatives of the diplomatic corps in Algeria and officials of these ministries, about the Draft Directive Law on Religious Affairs, which is expected to be finalized at the end of 2019 under the program of the President of the Republic.

In a different context, he asserted that he met with the representative of the Jewish community in Algeria, last week, at the ministry’s headquarters and discussed with him the conditions of their lives in Algeria and the problems they face.

“Algeria’s relationship with various religions is a relationship of cooperation and religious diplomacy. The principle of cooperation with them is within the constitution that guarantees freedom of belief, especially Article 42, which guaranteed the practice of religious rites”.