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 ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) - The cycle of deadly violence and atrocities that gripped Algeria for more than a decade is at the heart of a referendum Thursday that asks: Is it time to forgive and move on?
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika says his Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation is aimed at closing the wounds of the battle between Islamic extremists and security forces that left an estimated 120,000 people dead and thousands missing.
Critics say the charter is a way for the president to further consolidate power and that issuing pardons for perpetrators of the violence goes against the very notion of peace.
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