Ex-Islamist leader returns to Algeria after exile

A former leader of Algeria's now-banned Islamic Salvation Front party returned to the North African country Sunday after 14 years in exile. Rabah Kebir, who rose to prominence shortly before the party - known by its French acronym, FIS - was outlawed in 1992, was exiled the same year. On his arrival from Frankfurt, Germany, Kebir said he supported the process of reconciliation launched by Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. He had been in Germany since 1993. "I am very happy to be back in Algeria," Kebir told reporters at Algiers airport. "We are going to do all we can to promote national reconciliation."