Abdelaziz Bouteflika, president of Algeria, is, at 62 years of age, the man that has undertaken the road toward appeasement in Algeria. The challenges are enormous. Seven years of civil war and 100,000 dead are the result of a battle against (political) Islamism. Presently, he explores the paths of mediation in seeking harmony. The interview took place, through a questionnaire, prior to the death of King Hassan II of Morocco.

Question: During the electoral campaign, you promised peace and reconciliation. Do you believe you have kept your word after three months in the position? Has the Algerian society understood the presidential pardon of the 2,400 detainees? Can there be reconciliation after so many dead?

Peace and reconciliation, as you say, is not built overnight. It is a very complex undertaking, that requires as much a great political will as the enthusiasm of all society. Both exist in the country. Algeria has suffered a torment and now she is overcoming it. A law regarding civil harmony has just been announced. The people, on their part, will pronounce their verdict in a referendum, which will take place in a few weeks. I have faith in their verdict because they are a peaceful people. Your question makes me think that you underestimate the intelligence of the Algerians, as well as their immense resources of generosity and tolerance. Algerian society does not limit itself to the circles of Algiers; come encounter the depths of Algeria and you will understand that harmony is not only possible, but also desired. The devastating deviations of the minority should not impede the aspirations of the majority.

Question: Does Algeria need a Commission of the Truth, as was created in South Africa?

Algeria needs harmony, democracy, liberty, and development. The situation is fully more complex than it was in South Africa. Let's not put everything in the same bag. The Commission of the Truth would be justified in a relationship between colonized and colonizer, such as between France and Algeria, Spain and the Western Sahara. Your country, which has known Francoism--and far be it from us the idea of meddling in your domestic business--has known how to assume, with valor, civil war and its consequences. And if memory does not fail me, you (Spain) have never needed a commission in order to obtain a democratic transition.

Question: In your discourse to the nation, you spoke of the mistakes made by Algeria during the early years...What are they?

No country, not even yours, which occupies today a conspicuous position in Europe, is exempt from mistakes. I will not demonstrate that each era transmits advances and regressions, successes and failures, according to the political, social, and cultural circumstances. Algeria has not escaped this unwavering law. Having said that, I have not spoken of the errors committed in the early years, as you know. Because the first years of independence, during the 60s and 70s, were marked by great achievements in all fields. I share with pride the success of this glorious period, and I assume the errors that existed. Isn't error the price of progress? Nowadays, matured through experience, my country consecrates itself to deepen its democratic plan and to promote the market economy in social justice.

Question: After a long passage through the desert, you have returned to the political scene as head of the State. What is it that has changed?

During those 20 years, I remained alienated from public life. I have thought, endeavored, always when able, to help. As to Algeria, she has changed profoundly in all fields. What has not changed is her attachment to her authenticity, to her sovereignty, and to her Arab, African, and Mediterranean solidarity.

Question: Does Algeria have the same specific weight in the world as when you were head of foreign affairs?

Algeria, because of her position, is the heart of the Arab Maghreb. Like it or not, Algeria is a country that counts. She is indispensable in the Arab world. She occupies a key position in the southern edge of the Mediterranean, indispensable for any notion of European security.

Question: Why a referendum for the law of Civil Harmony, if Parliament has already adopted it? Did the backing-out of the other six candidates from the elections diminish somewhat the legitimacy of your victory in the April 15 elections?

These are two (separate) questions. First: why the referendum? My intention is to remove any tendencious argument from those who were inclined to place doubt in the representativeness of a house of parliament. But my main preoccupation is to govern through and for the people. In this respect, the problem of civil harmony and national reconciliation seems to me sufficiently important for me to move beyond partisan considerations and solicit a popular verdict, since the people are, in my eyes, the only sovereignty and the only source of any power.

In regard to the second question, I will tell you that liberty of expression does not authorize you to insult the Algerian people by raising insidious questions that tend to plant doubts on the first magistrate of the Algerian state. I would not view in a positive light an Algerian journalist who would ask such a question of the King of Spain. And since you speak of legitimacy, the only one of which I am proud and I possess is that of the Algerians. I do not need your guarantee. Furthermore, I gave my oath on April 27, I believe. Judge, on your own, the domestic and external transformations which have occurred in Algeria. I cannot avoid telling you that your questionnaire makes me thing that, for you, the depth of the problems are of less importance than the form. Come encounter the depth of Algeria, and I leave you as the only judge to prove where the popular legitimacy is found.

Question: Will you go home, as you have said, if the Algerians do not support the referendum?

I have not come to occupy an easy chair, but to serve my country. My compatriots are completely free to support it or not. If for one reason or another, they decide not to, I do not appropriate the right to impose anything.

Question: When will you announce the end of the state of emergency? Aren't the conditions met yet for taking such a measure?

Everything at its proper time. At the beginning of this interview, I told you that the reestablishment of civil harmony is a long-term task. It is necessary to establish the priorities. I do not believe in spectacular and improvised measures, no matter how attractive, as the remedy for a malady that deeply affects the social elements.

Question: The organizations of victims of terrorism complain of not receiving any help from the State. The government is going to compensate the widows and the orphans. Will the families of the terrorists who have been killed receive any help? Will there be investigations as a consequence of the denunciations of the cases of disappearances among the detained?

All social measures destined to accompany the process of unity and civil harmony have been taken or will be taken. You should inform yourself better about these questions by reading the Algerian newspapers and consulting the official bulletin, in which the laws and decrees are published. As to the investigations, you have already asked me that question. Either way, justice is supreme. I have no doubt that the judges will apply the law strenuously each time that the facts have been duly verified.

Question: Do you count on the unanimous support of the Military Forces for your national reconciliation project?

I am not a dictator. All questions of national interest are the subject of private consultation in the institutional and constitutional framework, prior to taking any decision. The forces of which you speak are the first to guarantee the security of the republican institutions. They have demonstrated it at difficult moments.

Question: Can the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) be legalized? Will you free Abassi Madani?

The FIS was dissolved through a decision of the judiciary in 1992. I take note of the decision of the judiciary, without making value-judgments. In 1996, a new Constitution redefined the regulations of the game of national politics. I have nothing to do with that. However, it so happens I was elected in the framework of that constitution. Thus, I must accept and respect it. I should say honestly that I feel a fraternal respect for Madani, combatant of the National Liberation Army since November 1954. It is true that he is imprisoned in his home: I lament it, as much from a personal point of view as from a family one. He lives under normal conditions, but not to say comfortable. My problem is complicated. My personal feelings for Madani are not shared by the civil society, who consider him, together with Ali Belhadj, politically and morally responsible for the genesis of the national tragedy. I only ask that full liberty be restored to him, with the condition, naturally, that he alienate himself clearly, definitively, and faithfully of all political activity. The obligations that impose on me the necessity to watch for the equilibrium of society and to guarantee the stability of the country leave me somewhat at the margin between the impulses of the heart and the imperatives of reason. The case of Ali Belhadj [number two of the FIS], who lives in less comfortable conditions, pains me more.

Question: Unemployment, the scarcity of housing, and the problems of education, could they give place to another social crisis such as that of 1988?

I suppose there are also parallels in your country, people without a home, with infrastructural and numerous social problems. Does this mean that the only possible alternative to those problems is the unleashing of a social crisis? No, sir. Algeria of 1999 is no longer that of 1968. It has matured. It is more aware. It knows, through having suffered dreaded adversaries, that what interests it is not the street demonstrations, which are, for another thing, completely sterile.

Question: Has the manna of petroleum been exhausted for Algeria? Is the FMI the one that dictates the political monetary unit in Algeria?

Forgive me for saying so, but young people in general "sin" from an excess of stereotyping which reduces your questionnaire to an interrogation that has all the aspects of a catastrophic scenario. At the risk of surprising you, I will tell you that my country is not in the situation you imagine. You are here; go to the markets, to the factories, to the farms. Visit the cities. You will see that, compared to other countries, despite all she has suffered, Algeria has not regressed. Of course, it has difficulties, but it also has enormous assets--among which the youth is not the least of these--, which will allow her to go forward. She already prepares for it. She will come up on top, believe me. I should remind you, in this regard, that in the year 2004, petroliferous production will have doubled, thanks to the new discoveries which have just been realized.

Question: How are you going to convince the Algerian youth to remain in their country?

I am going to surprise you again: the Algerian youth are convinced that they do not have any country in reserve. They know that here there is a place and a future for all. They have to work in order to create enterprises, give value to millions of hectares of agricultural lands, populate the plateaus and the south, and learn, continue to learn with the goal of accompanying the progress and changes around the world.

Question: Unlike Morocco and Tunisia, Algeria has not signed any agreement of association with the European Union. What are the motives for this lag?

The agreement of association with the European Union will be signed when the negotiations underway reach their end. We are moving decisively, methodically, and rationally toward a market economy. It is our choice, and we have assumed it because it is to the interest of our country. We shall take all necessary measures to make the transition successful, eliminating the limitations and obstacles placed on private initiative. We shall do it without losing sight of the fact that the economy should be placed at the service of man, and not vice-versa.

Question: Algeria is the primary client of Spain in Africa, and the purchases of Algerian gas have increased since the construction of the Europe-Maghreb "gasoduct." What can Algeria offer, besides hydrocarbons?

One would have to ask that question to the Spaniards in charge. Algeria is an immense deposit of potential riches that is waiting to be appraised in all its terrains. You plant the question in commercial terms; I prefer to plant it in terms of development. From this perspective, Spanish enterprises that wish to do so, can invest in Algeria with all the national and international guarantees necessary. They can also promote agreements of association with their Algerian counterparts. We are disposed to encourage them. The Algerian private sector is realizing great progress toward integrating in the economy of the region. In this respect, the State will take all necessary measures to eliminate the limitations placed against the initiative and the expansion of production capacities.

Question: You have invited President Jacques Chirac to visit Algeria. Do you think there exists the necessary conditions of security and stability in order to also invite King Juan Carlos or the president of the Aznar government?

I have had the honor of seeing King Juan Carlos only once in my life, when he was not yet in power. He impressed me greatly. In fact, perhaps you are not aware, but, from a bird's eye view, Madrid is the European capital closest to Algeria. Just as I have told the president and prime minister of France, the King of Spain and the president of the Spanish government will always be well-received in a country which has so many similar goals with yours.

Question: What do you know about the presence of ETA militants in Algeria during the time you were minister?

Oh! So that's it. Finally, your mask has fallen. You have finally unveiled your true visage. In your questions, there is at the same time, something of Torquemada* and the judge of instruction. My country refuses to lend itself to the Inquisition and is well placed to put many others in the bench of the accused. Either way, I do not know more than you, eminent journalist, concerning the militants of the ETA.

* Reference to the infamous Spanish monk and grand inquisitor, Tomás de Torquemada (1420-98), ruthless administrator of the Inquisition. From 1487 to 1498, Torquemada used the Inquisition to investigate and punish through torture Marranos ("insincerely" converted Jews) and Moors, apostates, and others, during which time some 2000 people were burned at the stake.