Page 156 - The Winter of Islam and the Spring to Come

Added to all of this, former Prime Minister
Abdelhamid Brahimi's explanation that all acts of ter-
rorism are blamed on the Muslims, whereas the
Muslims know they cannot achieve their aims by
killing, draw attention to another aspect. After saying
that, Brahimi stressed that it was former members of
the OAS, a counter-guerilla organization set up to op-
pose Algerian independence in 1962 and actually run
by the French administration, that was behind the
state terror in Algeria. 35
Alongside all this, the fact needs to be made clear
that those Muslim groups in Algeria who engage in
terrorist attacks against civilians are on the wrong
path. As we have already stated, such methods are in-
compatible with Islam. Islam requires Muslims to al-
ways prefer peaceful methods, and if war becomes a
final resort Islam requires the lives and rights of inno-
cent civilians not involved in the fighting to be pro-
tected. Outside this, all methods of "struggle" which
resort to unjustified violence are a violation of Islam.
The Muslims in Algeria need to be sensitive to this fact
and to wage their struggle not with arms but with their
culture, knowledge and reason. In that event it may be
hoped that the blood and tears in Algeria can be re-
placed by welfare and security.