Algerian Islamists Rattled by Sexual Scandals, Resignation of Leaders
JEDDAH/ALGIERS, 26 October 2004 — Algeria’s largest Islamist political party is teetering on the brink of disintegration amid reports of sexual scandals and the resignation of five of its top leaders.
A spokesman for the Harkat Al-Islah (Movement for Reform) confirmed the resignations yesterday but blamed them on “intrigues by outsiders.”
Led by Abdallah Jaballah, Islah is the second political bloc in the Algerian Parliament. Last April it fielded Jaballah as its candidate in the presidential election, which the incumbent President Abdelaziz Bouteflika won in a landslide. Jaballah came in third.
Scandals surrounding the party broke out earlier this week when a member of the leadership, who must remain anonymous for legal reasons, filed a lawsuit claiming that his wife had been “sexually assaulted” by Sadiq Sulayemah, another party leader.
The plaintiff has accused the party’s leadership of trying to cover up the incident along with other instances of “illegitimate sexual activity” at the highest levels.
JEDDAH/ALGIERS, 26 October 2004 — Algeria’s largest Islamist political party is teetering on the brink of disintegration amid reports of sexual scandals and the resignation of five of its top leaders.
A spokesman for the Harkat Al-Islah (Movement for Reform) confirmed the resignations yesterday but blamed them on “intrigues by outsiders.”
Led by Abdallah Jaballah, Islah is the second political bloc in the Algerian Parliament. Last April it fielded Jaballah as its candidate in the presidential election, which the incumbent President Abdelaziz Bouteflika won in a landslide. Jaballah came in third.
Scandals surrounding the party broke out earlier this week when a member of the leadership, who must remain anonymous for legal reasons, filed a lawsuit claiming that his wife had been “sexually assaulted” by Sadiq Sulayemah, another party leader.
The plaintiff has accused the party’s leadership of trying to cover up the incident along with other instances of “illegitimate sexual activity” at the highest levels.
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