Algiers — Residents of the Tizi Ouzou town of Imzizou just rallied for the removal a controversial salafist imam.

Algerians from several surrounding villages joined in the protest at the Fréha government administration site on Thursday (July 11th), claiming that the imam did not abide by their traditions and was trying to impose salafist practices.

According to local resident Hadj Ibrahim, citizens were outraged because the imam "had refused to conduct the usual and traditional funeral ceremony when a villager died, on the pretext that it was a bida'a (innovation)".

"This imam was already known for his salafist ideology," Ibrahim added. "He tried to impose it on the villagers several times."

The authorities responded quickly to the civil protest. The Ministry of Religious Affairs issued an order for the imam to be transferred elsewhere. But this did not appease the villagers, who said the problem was bigger than just their town.

"We are appalled not by this imam but by salafist ideology, which poses a threat to our society." Imzizou resident Hadj Mansour told Magahrebia.

"What is not good for our village is bad for the whole of Algeria", Mansour said.

The region suffered greatly at the hands of terrorists during the Algerian Civil War. Hundreds of villagers died as a result of acts of terrorism. It was an experience that the local population refuses to relive.

"We just want to live in peace. We're Muslims and we will fight radical ideology as hard as we can", said a member of the local Council of Elders.

This was not the first Kabylie village to face a salafist incursion. In June, a caravan of kameez-clad, bearded preachers made an uninvited appearance in Ouacifs.

The imams spent three days delivering extremist sermons. Just like the Imzizou villagers, the population of Ouacifs made it clear that the salafists were not welcome.

Extremists have no compunction about making death threats against villagers in order to extort money and food, Tizi Ouzou residents claimed.

"Last time, I begged them not to come to my house ever again," said Mohamed A, who is in the final stages of cancer. "I'm ill, I don't have long left to live. I have two children, a girl and a boy, and I'm very afraid for them."

Algeria has expressed concern about the emergence in recent years of salafist, wahhabite, shi'ite, Ahmedist and takfirist movements.

On July 10th, Religious Affairs Minister Bouabdellah Gholamallah warned salafists that mosques were a place of prayer.

"An hour is enough to pray... and mosques aren't restaurants for salafists", he said in response to a question about the tendency of extremist imams to use mosques to spread their messages during Ramadan.

The inspector-general at the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Waqfs, Mohamed Aissa, has compared the growing presence of takfirist sects to "a foreign invasion."

These groups sought to "destabilise the authorities in the Maghreb and the Arab world" by "trying to organise themselves into political movements", he said on May 12th.

To curb these movements, the ministry has decided to tighten up its monitoring of religious organisations and mosques.

Inspector-General Aissa said the government was working on two draft laws: one to reform the way in which religious organisations are created and the other to regulate the hierarchical structure of mosques.

As the government pursues measures to rein in the salafist threat, members of the Algerian public are voicing approval for the Kabylie protest.

"Algeria, which paid a heavy price for terrorism, cannot take a backwards step and be silent in the face of those who espouse extremist ideas," public sector worker Amin Ait Kaci told Magharebia.

"It's only by standing together that we can beat extremism", medical student Manel Ouadah agreed.