Bahrain

Added to this have been the internal problems resulting from the long-running insurgency of the 1990s. The trigger for the confl ict was the Algerian Army’s decision to cancel elections in 1992 to prevent a probable victory by the IFS. This decision ushered in a period of intense internal violence in which up to 100,000 people are estimated to have been killed. In 1999, Abdelaziz Boutefl ika won election to the presidency and implemented an amnesty for those who had fought against the state during the 1990s. As a result, large-scale violence has declined markedly. In many parts of the country, however, the situation remains fraught as a result of Islamist militancy, Sahelian banditry and unrest in the Berber population as it presses for autonomy. In 2006 the Salafi st Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) merged with al-Qaeda to form al-Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb, which has continued with a series of kidnappings and bombings, targeting the government and Western interests. Algeria thus remains a fl ashpoint on the doorstep of the European Union (EU), with strong connections throughout Europe as indicated by the list of import and export partners. Compared with the bloody events in Libya, Syria and Yemen, there was no revolutionary fervour in Algeria and the army remained calmer. Relations with Libya presented a continuing problem.