The situation of Sufi orders improved under the presidency of Chadli Benjedid (1979-1992), who returned some of the properties previously nationalized. Sufi orders managed to resume their activities and the number of their followers started to increase again. However, this reversal ended during the Algerian civil war in the 1990s. After the military took control of the state, they sanctioned not only Salafi and Wahhabi groups but also Sufi orders. At the end of the war, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika (1999-2019) endeavored to support "Sufism as a more moderate alternative to more radical Salafis and more conservative Wahhabis".