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THE CAll It all started in Istanbul. In early 1996, crashed at my co-author Coskun Aral's I I I I I I II II II II II II II .. II !! II .. i i II I I II .. II II I I !! II .. II II I. III II I III I I I I II II II .. II apartment, I was awakened by the fax machine. I received a crude and rambling mes­ sage from the fundamentalists in Algeria. It seems the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) was doing some PR work. Mo?t Islamic rebel groups are described as fundamental, and with the GIA the accent was on "mental." The fax read: "Come to Algeria and we'll slit your throat. II It warned me that all singers, artists, journalists, soldiers and policemen are non-believ­ ers and will be killed on sight. It didn't mention travel writers. There was more: "Belly dancing is prayer to Satan. When Satan's messengers give a direction to people, they dance . . . . lf you dance, stay out of Algeria." A year went by and it started to bug me. Every interviewer's quiver of questions included, "Robert, are there any places where you won't go?" Why would I be afraid of the GIA? Why would I give a shit what they think about belly dancers, limbo dancers, table dancers or even clog dancers? If I wanted to know about fear and loathing, death and damnation and what was really going on in Algeria, I had to go . Algeria is no stranger to danger. The French killed 250,000 people in the 1954-1 962 battle for independence. In fact, the current government-a brutal military dictatorship-is the direct spawn of the National Liberation Front (FLN) terrorists that pushed the French out. Back then, current president Liamine Zeroual was a young oHi- cer doing his best to oust the French colonial boys. Bombs, shootings, atrocities, . assassinations, torture and the body count quickly elevated, earning Algeria the title of the world's most dangerous place. After 27 years under FLN rule, the country was on the verge of bankruptcy and people were demonstrating in the streets. So in 1991 , the country's first multi-party election was held. The fundamentalist party the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) won hand- ily. That's when the generals in power said "How about two out of three?", appointed Zeroual as president, banned the FIS ... and the ki lling started. Today Algeria has regained its unenviable former title. It's the opinion of compa- nies such as Pinkertons, Kroll and Control Risks Group-people the oil companies and insurers listen to when working their risk calculators. They all call Algeria the most dan- gerous place in the world. More than 70 journalists have been killed by gunmen or bombs. Visitors, expats and foreign workers are not immune either. More than 120 foreigners are dead-rang- ing from Ukrainian sailors wandering Algiers' Casbah to oil workers stopped at road- blocks. Singers, writers, soldiers and politicians all became fair game as the GIA, FIS and other mujahideen groups successfully turned Algeria into a killing field. Today journalists are restricted by the government and their natural fear of being slit open and bled like a goat. I I I II in the country). I told officials I wrote a tourist guide (I didn't tell them it was called Fielding's II ,' I , The World's Most Dangerous Places) and wanted to "look around." � :. about Algeria was exaggerated. Fine. By then the death toll was up to 75,000 and it wa� hard . for the GIA to get much ink even when they barbecued babies, beheaded monks and made jihadsicles out of old men by putting their heads on poles to greet the suspiciously late mil­ itary forces. When my visa arrived, I sent a letter to the ambassador listing exactly who I wanted to . ::: :;:: interview. There was not a beach resort owner among the names. I listed the leaders of all the :: : :·:.'terrorist groups, imprisoned fighters, intellectuals, military leaders (including Zeroual) and ' .' ;·:pol iticians. To make sure I got a little local color I asked to go on anti-terrorist operations with . : ,:,the "eradicators," or death squads. The call I got from the embassy was one notch above frantic. "Who let you into this . . . ' country?" the woman screamed. . "Why, you did," I repl ied. "This is impossible. You cannot come here." "You mean there," I said, since my agitated friend was calling from Washington. *cl ick* A few days later the second-in-command calls to say he has discussed my case with the ambassador and it would give him great pleasure to arrange a personal tour of the entire country-more than 1,000 miles-at their expense as long as I would not go for eletions. So I went there for elections. The friendly man at the Algerian embassy in Washington told me that what I had heard So how do you get into Algeria? I admit I used a little bluster and bullshit when I applied II for my 15-day tourist visa (an item that was to el icit oohs and aahs from journalists once I was

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