But powerful factions within the secretive ruling military elite have been accused of orchestrating kidnappings, assassinations and even massacres to manipulate the GIA and reinforce the army’s own grip on power. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, installed by the military in 1999, has offered Islamist groups amnesty but the GIA has rejected the offer.Since the 11 September atrocities, the government has enjoyed a thaw in relations with the West thanks to its self-proclaimed record on tackling terrorism.America, which suspended aid to Algeria after the cancellation of the 1992 elections and the ensuing bloodshed, announced recently that it would resume the sale of military equipment to the Algerian government to help it combat Islamic militants.The EU has also been fostering closer ties with Algiers. Algeria supplies much of the natural gas European consumers rely on. Human Rights Watch says that despite the inclusion of a human rights clause in a bilateral trade and aid deal concluded between the EU and Algiers in 2001, repeated inquiries on the disappeared have yielded nothing.President Bouteflika has proposed compensating families of the missing. The government admits it has received complaints about more than 4,000 missing people.M.

Chirac is under intense pressure from campaigners to use his influence to seek an independent commission to compel the testimony of state security agents and the disclosure of documents. While there have been few cases of state sponsored “disappearances” since 2000, Human Rights Watch said little had been done to prevent their recurrence.The investigation also accuses armed groups that call themselves Islamic of kidnapping thousands of Algerians during the armed strife.Omar Ourad is one presumed victim of such groups. He was kidnapped from his home in Baraki, near Algiers, by an armed group in August 1994, and was never seen again He was 48. His son, Yassine Ourad, a photographer, told Human Rights Watch: “As they left they told us, ‘Don’t worry, we’re just taking him for questioning.’ They took him in his pyjamas Until today we don’t know who took him.”. Militant young Aborigines are converting to Islam in increasing numbers, and some are flirting with the fundamentalist ideologies that have inspired recent terrorism.

Some Aborigines are embracing Islam for spiritual reasons, but many say it gives them a sense of worth that they have lacked as members of an oppressed minority.The religion has particular appeal for disaffected young men who feel impotent after generations of injustice and their position at the bottom of Australian society. Solomon, a 23-year-old man interviewed for a television documentary aired last night, said: “It’s not a part of our religion to stand there and get stepped on. That’s why Islam is so good for the Aboriginal people.”The documentary, made by Australia’s SBS Television, featured some recent converts who profess to support Osama bin Laden. Khalid, who converted to Islam more than a decade ago while in prison, said: “Wherever you are, Osama bin Laden, I love you, brother, and I pray for you, because to me you’re just a spiritual warrior standing up for Islam and propagating freedom around the world.” Khalid, who has grown a beard and wears an Islamic skullcap, claimed there were thousands of budding Bin Ladens in Aboriginal communities.

“If they ever find Osama bin Laden, another 1,000 will pop up,” he said.Most Aborigines have been Christians since missionaries arrived with the convict fleets two centuries ago. But, like African American Muslims, angry indigenous men are finding Islam empowering. They have attracted the attention of the authorities, which have been closely monitoring radical Muslims in Australia since the 11 September attacks and last year’s bomb in Bali.Solomon, who was introduced to Islam by workmates, said he was told by the domestic intelligence agency, ASIO, that if he left the country he would probably not be allowed back under counter-terrorism laws. He had wanted to go overseas to learn Arabic so that he could read the Koran in the original, he said, but ASIO suspected him of planning to attend a terrorism training camp.Karander Seyit, editor of the Australian Muslim News, said: “The white Australian government has neglected them. They need spiritual guidance and, if Christianity is not willing to treat them like human beings, I know Islam would. Society has marginalised these people.”Justin, a law student in his early 20s, said: “I feel that in Australia I don’t have the right to exist as a human being Islam gives me the faith to think that I’m a man …