Les éradicateurs

"Les éradicateurs" ("The Eradicators") is the French language popular term for a faction within the Algerian political and military establishment during that country's civil war, which from 1992 pitted Islamist rebels against a military-installed government. "Les éradicateurs" saw no room for compromise with Islamist politicians, and believed that militant organizations should be eliminated through force, refusing talks with their representatives. They were popularly contrasted with "les dialoguistes", ("The Dialoguers"), who held that dialogue and national reconciliation was the only way forward. The latter faction eventually gained the upper hand, and the Bouteflika presidency (1999-) has been marked by amnesties and attempt to draw Islamists back into constitutional politics.

The 1995 Sant'Egidio Platform, which united most of the Algerian opposition parties, was in large part directed against the "éradicateur" tendency.