Algerians support referendum on amnesty for Islamist militants

Algerians voted on Thursday for the referendum, saying that many are sick of years of violence that led to the North African country's isolation and are ready to forgive.

Majority of the 18 million eligible voters reportedly backed the ontroversial 'charter for peace and national reconciliation'.

"We are fed up with the tears. It's time to forget the past and build a future," said an Algiers voter, a 37-year-old teacher who gave her name as Amnia.

Opposition parties accuse President Abdul Aziz Bouteflika of using the referendum to strengthen his grip on the state. Human rights groups say the amnesty will sweep under the carpet abuses committed by the army and Islamists.

Pensioner Mohammad Mammar, voting in Algiers' poor Bab Al Oued district, told Reuters: "I want reconciliation in this country. I hope the situation will change for the better and I'm voting because I trust Bouteflika."

The charter will pardon rebels in prison, on the run or still fighting and drop other legal proceedings.

Those involved in massacres, such as one in 1997 in the Algiers suburb of Bentalha where 400 civilians were killed, are excluded.

It also asks the people to forgive and turn the page on what the president calls a "national tragedy" but it bans Islamists from participating in politics.

The authorities estimate there are between 800 and 1,000 rebels, although only a few hundred are armed and fighting security forces.

At its height in the mid-1990s, up to 25,000 men were involved in the insurgency.

Bouteflika says ending the violence will enable the government to devote itself to social and economic problems.

However, many ordinary Algerians shrug off the importance of the referendum, saying that improving their standard of living was more important than pardoning remaining Islamists.

"Algeria's youth need jobs, not a referendum," said 27-year-old Ahmad Kennache, who is unemployed, at a coffee house in central Algiers.

"I am also against the idea of forgiving killers. They must face the same fate as their victims," he said.

The charter rejects the notion that the security forces were to blame for more than 6,000 disappearances during the 1990s.

A government-appointed human rights body recently concluded that most of them disappeared after they were detained by police.

The government will instead propose financial compensation for the families of the victims, an offer many of them reject.

It is the second time Bouteflika has asked the people in a referendum to approve efforts to end the bloodshed, which pitted Islamists against the armed forces and neighbour against neighbour. There are no independent monitors of the ballot.

Key points of Algeria's proposed Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation:

Ends judicial proceedings for Islamic extremists who lay down arms, are sought in Algeria or abroad but turn themselves in, are suspected of supporting terrorism, were convicted in absentia.

Forbids pardon for those who committed massacres, rapes or bombings in public places.

Forbids political activity by those who committed terror acts or "instrumentalized" Islam.

Rejects claims that security forces may have had hand in thousands of disappearances.

Provides for reparations for families of disappeared.

Provides for state help to families of Islamic extremists.

Forbids disparaging Algerian institutions or tarnishing country's image.