Algeria cuts “wings” of Iranian Shi’ism in Book Fair

Ali Ragab

Despite the dismissal of the Cultural Attaché in the Embassy of Tehran in Algeria, “Amir Mousavi”, whose presence was a major problem and crises within the Algerian street, still the Iranian regime is trying to spread its ideas to penetrate the Algerian society.

On Wednesday, October 31, 2018, the Algiers International Book Fair closed a pavilion called the World Assembly of AhlulBayt (a term refers to the family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad) after presenting offensive books about the companions of Prophet Muhammad, containing extremist content promoting the Shiite faith.

Founded in 1990 by Ali Khamenei, the World Assembly of AhlulBayt is an international network dedicated to the development of periodic projects and plans for the world’s Shi’a preaching. It is supervised by high-level figures from elites and symbols of Shiites around the world.

Among the books presented in the pavilion of the “World Assembly” are the “Companions’ Justice between Holiness and Reality” by Yahya Abdel-Hassan Al-Dukhi and another book entitled “The Companions in Their True Size”, both books contained many offenses for the Companions. Another book entitled “Husseini’s Revolution” by Ayatollah Baqir Hakim, according to Algerian newspaper Al-Shorouk.

The head of the “reading and follow-up committee” at the Algerian Ministry of Culture, Jamal Vogali, said that «this closure came after noting the book titles which were previously rejected by the customs authority, according to Algerian news agency APS.

In June, Algerian security forces arrested dozens of African migrants in the so-called “Ansar al-Din”, led by the Shiite Sidi Sharif Othman Haidra in Mali, on the border with Algeria. This came amid accusations of Iranian support for this organization within its project to establish a Shiite arm in Algeria, similar to that of Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The organization began to appear in 2017 and is estimated at 500 members, mostly from Mali, which aims at establishing a Shiite group that attracts Algerians, while various statistics estimate the number of Shiites in general, between one million and two million people, in the east and south of Algeria, especially in the state of Biskra, according to Aswat Magharbia website.

In April 2017, Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia said that “the Algerians are Sunnis and will never embrace the Shiite or Ahmadi sect.” Observers recognized Iran’s role in spreading Shiism in Algeria and former cultural attache at the Iranian Embassy in Algeria Amir Mousavi played a role in spreading Shiite preaching in the country of one million martyrs.

Last September, Iran’s controversial diplomat, Amir Mousavi, left Algeria after spending four years on the cultural mission of the Iranian embassy. He was accused of actively spreading Shi’ism and attracting Algerians by traveling to Iraq, Lebanon and Iran.

In April, Algerian activists and bloggers launched a major campaign on social networking sites calling for the “expulsion of the cultural attaché of the Iranian embassy, ​​Amir Mousavi”. Mousavi left the embassy last September.

Activists said that Mousavi was a real threat to Algerian security because of his complex relations with civil society and his suspected activity in spreading the Shiite ideology.

The Algerian activist Anwar Malik, accused Amir Mousavi of creating dangerous networks for al-Fakih Ali Khamenei in Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. He said in a tweet that Mousavi had created strategic extensions of Hezbollah’s terrorist organization, and dismantling it is urgent for the Algerian national security in particular and for Maghreb in general. ”

the Algerian activist also accused Amir Mousavi of coordinating secret trips to Tehran and Najaf with Algerian supporters.

Malik, the author of “The Secrets of Shiites and Terrorism in Algeria,” said that the Shiite tide in Algeria is backed by the Iranian embassy and the cultural attaché, Amir Mousavi, who is active in networks of Algerian Shiites who have visited Iran, Iraq and Syria before and have connections with foreign intelligence services.

He pointed out that there are fears that the Shiite transform from “minorities” to “armed militias” that target Algerian national security, as happened in several Arab and Islamic countries.

At the same time, the researcher in the Iranian affairs, Hisham Baqli, said that the closure of one of the Iranian wings at the Book Fair in Algeria is an important development in the context of combating Iranian actions in the region; as Tehran depends on the cultural aspect to penetrate the Arab societies.
Al-Baqli told Al-Marjie that according to Algeria, the Iranian wing was closed, in protest against some of the titles of the Iranian religious books, which implies that the books provoke sectarian strife, and works to spread the Shiite doctrine, in contrary to international conventions and laws in all countries of the world.
Al-Baqli also said that although the Algerian customs authorities objected to the titles of the Iranian books, Iran insisted on presenting them in the book fair in order to deliver its messages and to fabricate a crisis at the book fair, but the Algerian reaction was very balanced and contained the crisis completely.
The researcher called all countries to beware of the Iranian plans. “This is not the first, and will not be the last by Tehran. All the Iranian cultural participations is a way for it to spread its doctrine and to attract young people in exhibitions, seminars and even in film festivals,” he added.