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<P><B><FONT color=#000066 size=+1>The Monks of Tibhirine: </FONT><FONT
size=+1><B><FONT color=#000066>Faith, Love and Terror in
Algeria</FONT></B></FONT><BR>by John W. Kiser</B></P>
<P><B><FONT size=2><EM>For puchasing, reviews and other information about this
book, follow </EM><A href="http://www.themonksoftibhirine.com/"><FONT
color=#3366cc>this link</FONT></A><EM>.</EM></FONT></B></P>
<P>The Monks of Tibhirine is a true story of Christian love set against
political terrorism in contemporary Algeria. </P>
<P>In the spring of 1996, militants of the Armed Islamic Group, today affiliated
with Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, broke into a Trappist monastery in
war-torn Algeria. Seven monks were taken hostage, pawns in a murky negotiation
to free imprisoned terrorists. Two months later, the severed heads of the monks
were found in a tree not far from Tibhirine; their bodies were never recovered.
</P>
<P>The village of Tibhirine had sprung up around the monastery because it was a
holy place, protected by the Virgin Mary, who is revered by Christians and
Muslims alike. But after 1993, as the Algerian military government's war against
Islamic terrorism widened, napalm, helicopters, and gunfire became regular
accompaniments to their monastic routine. </P>
<P>The harmony between these Christian monks and the Muslim neighbors of
Tibhirine contrasts with the fear and distrust among Algerians fighting over
power and what it means to be a Muslim. Woven into the story of the kidnapping
and the political disintegration of Algeria is a classic account of Christian
martyrdom. But these monks were not martyrs to their faith, as preaching
Christianity to Muslims is forbidden in Algeria, but rather martyrs to their
love of their Muslim neighbors, whom they refuse to desert in their hour of
need.</P>
<P><B>Translation of review by Gilles Nicolad, Priest in Diocese of Algiers (and
confidant of the monks) in Recontres, April 3, (monthly diocesan journal of
Algeria).</B><BR><FONT size=2><BR><I>"This book is not the first written about
the monks of Tibhirine. It is the first of this importance published in English,
but it could well be the best among all those written in any language so far. I
was struck by the accurate rendering of the portraits of each of the monks, by
the description of both the local and national contexts [of the events
described], by the depths of his comprehension of the Cistercian calling; and of
the vocation of our Algerian Church. I think it certainly merits being
translated into French. Thank you to the author for the conscientiousness of his
work, and to have written about this drama in a manner that it
deserves."</I></FONT></P>
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