Anwar Haddam ( ar, أنور هدام) was a leader of the

Islamic Salvation Front The Islamic Salvation Front ( ar, الجبهة الإسلامية للإنقاذ, al-Jabhah al-Islāmiyah lil-Inqādh; french: Front Islamique du Salut, FIS) was an Islamist political party in Algeria. The party had two major leaders representi ...

(FIS), an Islamist

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often featur ...

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, and was elected to parliament on a FIS ticket in 1991 - Algeria's first

multiparty In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in coal ...

elections. The dissolution of the FIS by military

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after its electoral victories in 1991-92 triggered the Algerian Civil War. Haddam spent most of the war years in exile in the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

, acting as a main figure in the party's political leadership. Algerian authorities unsuccessfully sought his

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In 2004 Haddam resigned from FIS, and in 2007 co-founded the Movement for Liberty & Social Justice ( MLJS). A student and a disciple of the late Algerian thinker Malek Bennabi, Haddam has been involved with the Algerian Islamic Movement since 1972, and is one of the pioneers in its participation in the political arena. A nuclear physicist, he was a faculty member of the Physics Department of the University of Science and Technology of Algiers before being elected to the Algerian Parliament in December 1991 on behalf of the Islamic Front for Salvation (FIS). After the interruption of the Democratic process by the military in January 1992, he was given the mission of representing the winning party of majority in those elections, namely the FIS, in Europe and the US, and that of its international relations. Haddam has been and still is an advocate for a political solution to Algeria’s political authority crisis. Haddam was the initiator and one of the signatories of the historic “National Contract for a Peaceful & Political Solution to Algeria Crisis” found in Rome by the mean Algerians political parties in January 1995. In this Sant'Egidio Platform, Haddam, Abdelhamid Mehri and Hocine Ait Ahmed demanded a reinstatement of

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which people, the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choo ...

in Algeria. Unfortunately the militaries rejected the platform engaging the country in a bloody civil war. In September 2005, in recognition for his peaceful political efforts for the resolution of Algeria crisis, Haddam was invited by the Algerian President to return to the country to participate in the President project for national reconciliation. The infamous “eradicators” opposed a strong veto to Haddam’s return; a veto that is still in effect as of today. An invited speaker, Haddam lectured on the Algerian crisis and Political Islam at various institutions in Europe and in the US. A writer as well, he authored numerous articles, and has written two books on the Algerian crisis and national reconciliation. In the midst of the current popular uprising in some of the Arab countries, and in an attempt to avoid chaos in his home country Algeria, he is actively involved in building consensus between Algeria’s various political tendencies and the military for a comprehensive and gradual democratic change of Algeria’s 50 years old military backed regime.

External links

"An Islamist Vision for Algeria"
- Interview with Anwar Haddam {{DEFAULTSORT:Haddam, Anwar Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Islamic Salvation Front politicians 21st-century Algerian people