Algeria: Al-Qaeda message calls president a traitor

Algiers, 9 Feb. (AKI) - A new message purportedly from Al-Qaeda accuses Algeria's president Abdelaziz Bouteflika of betraying his country by allowing a CIA agent accused of raping two women while he was stationed there to return home.

"O beloved nation, what more do you want these rulers to do to make you to speak with one voice and say 'enough'!" said the message posted to Islamist websites.

"Doesn't this scandal prove to you that Bouteflika and his government are no different from that of Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan or Nouri al-Maliki's in Iraq?" the message said.

The CIA has said one of its agents has returned to the United States after being accused last September of committing the two rapes in Algeria.

The scandal could take its toll on Bouteflika's prospects in polls taking place on 9 April. He is running for election to a third presidential term.