Police disperse Algiers job protest

2013-05-06

A protest of young Algerians over jobs was suppressed by the police, El Watan reported on Sunday (May 5th). The young people, who work on pre-employment contracts, had gathered in front of the parliament to demand integration.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/newsbriefs/general/2013/05/06/newsbrief-04.

Algeria not immune to Arab spring revolt

- Asmaa Malik
Monday, 29 August 2011

Global Arab Network - Algeria could be swept by an Arab Spring-style revolt if the government does not urgently fix social and political problems, the country's leading Islamist opposition politician said.

Sheikh Abdallah Djaballah, 54, head of a party called the Front for Justice and Development, said the government had tried to appease anger by handing out cash, but had failed to address a lack of democracy at the root of Algeria's problems.

"The sources of tensions may unify and become a tsunami that will destroy everything," Djaballah told Reuters in an interview.

"The regime wanted to fix the problem financially by saying that the crisis is social and that raising wages will be enough... It is true that the social aspect of the crisis is real, but the key problem remains political."

Algeria, an important gas supplier to Europe and a U.S. ally in its fight against al Qaeda, has been shaken by unrest and strikes since the beginning of this year, with people demanding better pay and lower prices.

The government of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, 74, feared the strikes and protests could lead to the kind of revolt which toppled long-standing rulers in Egypt and neighbouring Tunisia.

Bouteflika responded by using energy revenues to give hefty pay rises for almost all public employees and to raise subsidies on basic foodstuffs.

To relieve pressure for political change, he also lifted a 19-year-old state of emergency, promised to give the opposition a voice in state media and set up a commission to recommend political reforms.

Since then the number of protests has fallen sharply, but the problems are still there, said Jaballah, who wears a beard, like most Islamists, but also dresses in Western clothes.

"If someone has cancer, you cannot just give them a sedative and this is what the government has been doing so far," he said.

Source: Global Arab Network.
Link: http://www.english.globalarabnetwork.com/2011082911337/Algeria-Politics/algeria-not-immune-to-arab-spring-revolt.html.

Algeria defends sheltering Gaddafis

Tue Aug 30, 2011

Algeria's UN envoy Mourad Benmehidi has defended his country's decision to give refuge to family members of Libya's fugitive ruler Muammar Gaddafi.

In an interview with the state-run BBC on Tuesday, Benmehidi described the move as "the holy rule of hospitality."

He made the remarks after opposition forces demanded Algeria to return Gaddafi's wife and daughter, along with two of his sons Muhammed and Hanibal.

The opposition called the move an "act of aggression against the Libyan people."

On Monday, Algeria announced that several members of Gaddafi's family had crossed into its territory at 08:45 local time (0745 GMT).

Meanwhile, clashes between opposition forces and troops loyal to Gaddafi are underway near the fugitive ruler's hometown of Sirte, which is one of the last areas still under control of loyalists.

Chairman of the Transitional National Council Mustafa Abdel Jalil on Tuesday gave an ultimatum to pro-Gaddafi troops to surrender until Saturday.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/196522.html

Algeria elections: 'Hoax' or 'path to democratic change'?

2012-02-18

ALGIERS – A secular party in Algeria has announced it will boycott elections in May. Rally for Culture and Democracy party chief Said Saadi said Friday the elections would be a "hoax" and the assembly chosen could just be dissolved by the new president set to be elected in 2014.

The party's power base is the ethnically Berber Tizi-Ouzou region east of the capital. It boycotted elections in 2002, but ran in 2007, gaining 19 seats in the 390-person assembly and 3.36 percent of the vote.

Meanwhile, Ali Laskri, general secretary of the Socialist Forces Front said upcoming elections may spark real change in Algeria, as political figures came forward to launch parties after the relaxing of laws in the wake of the Arab Spring.

"It is not too late that (the elections) become a path to democratic change and towards a more transparent institutional framework, more predictable and reassuring," said Laskri, a longtime dissident party in Algeria.

Laskri spoke at the party's national convention set to debate participation in the May 10 legislative elections, a question facing many of Algeria's political movements, some only just created.

Political figures, including several former ministers, have scrambled to create parties after the regime, dominated by the National Liberation Front, or FLN, freed up political laws in response to the protest movement that has swept the Arab world.

Seventeen new parties have been authorized to hold their first congresses under a new law passed last month following reforms announced by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

Ex-Industry Minister Abdelmadjid Menasra announced the creation of a new Islamist party on Friday while former Health Minister Amara Benyounes announced his secularist party would participate in the May poll.

"We are going to contribute to change Algerians yearn for and offer hope to the young," Menasra said at the launch of his party, the Change Front.

The Socialist Forces boycotted the last two legislative elections in 2002 and 2007 and opposition parties have repeatedly denounced fraud by the FLN ever since the introduction of a multi-party system in 1989.

The current parliament is dominated by the FLN, which has played a key role in Algerian politics since it led the way to independence from France in 1962.

Algeria is a major oil and gas producer, a sector that accounts for almost all of its foreign earnings.

Other sectors of the economy are underdeveloped, however, and youth unemployment was running at 21 percent last year, according to the World Bank.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=50713.

Algeria sets election date

The countdown to legislative elections has begun.

By Nazim Fethi for Magharebia in Algiers – 10/02/12

Algerian legislative elections will be held May 10th, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced Thursday (February 9th).

In a national address lasting under 10 minutes, the president called for "massive participation" of young people in the vote, saying that it was necessary for the new parliament to be credible.

Bouteflika said the legislative polls would be the first stage in political reforms announced last April. Last year, the president said the new parliament would be charged with amending the constitution.

On Tuesday, the Council of Ministers approved an order expanding the People's National Assembly (APN) from 389 seats to 462.

The council also approved a presidential decree outlining how the national commission to supervise the next legislative elections will be organized and how it should work. Comprising magistrates only, that commission was created in response to demands from political figures and parties.

Speaking at the end of the Tuesday session that expanded the APN and set up the election commission, President Bouteflika said he expects the government to "complete all the organizational, material and logistical arrangements needed for the smooth running of the legislative elections".

Interior Minister Dahou Ould Kablia gave his own assurance yesterday that work to issue acknowledgements of receipt of the political parties' constitutional submissions would continue "in total equity and transparency".

The Justice and Liberty Party (PLJ), chaired by Belaïd Mohand Oussaïd, was the first to receive an acknowledgement that its constitutional application had been received, according to an interior ministry statement.

In an attempt to get loopholes tightened up, some parties have stepped up their rhetoric in recent days, threatening not to take part in the forthcoming legislative elections unless a "neutral" government is designated to organize the elections.

"We shall boycott the forthcoming legislative elections unless the President of the Republic dissolves the current government and appoints another," said Hamlaoui Akouchi, El-Islah's secretary-general. "We shall wait until the electoral body is called; if our demands have not been considered, then we shall be forced not to take part in the forthcoming elections."

Algeria's Ennahda movement had similar demands. Meanwhile, Front for Change leader Abdelmadjid Menasra called for observers to be sent in by Europe, the United States and the United Nations, rejecting those from the Arab League and African Union. Menasra's party is due to hold its congress February 17th-18th. The party foresees "a second republic and a new constitution".

Khaled Bounedjma, National Front for Social Justice (FNJS) chairman, even asked Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia's ministers to resign, saying it would allow a neutral government to be appointed.

Abdallah Djaballah's Front for Liberty and Justice (FLJ), meanwhile, was supposed to hold its constitutional assembly this week in Algiers, but had to postpone the event because of the snow.

The interior ministry has been swift to give approval to no fewer than 17 new parties. Among those parties, some know they have little chance of winning many votes, but they feel that participation in the ballot would be an ideal opportunity to make themselves known to voters.

They include the Union of Democratic and Social Forces, chaired by former minister Noureddine Bahbouh. "We don't expect to win a large number of seats. We want to present the arguments for our plans. The election campaign will be an opportunity to make ourselves known," he said.

The national coordinator of the Youth Party (PJ), Dr Hamana Boucharma, called for the legislative elections to be delayed at least until the summer, to give them time to prepare for this crucial event.

At a press briefing as part of preparations for the party's constitutional assembly, Dr Boucharma denounced the "unexplained" behavior of some local administrative officials, who refused to grant his party members permission to hold their general assemblies.

Meanwhile, the Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD), led by Said Sadi, is threatening to boycott the vote. The opposition party's national council will meet next week to make a final decision.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2012/02/10/feature-02.

Algeria, Libya ink security deal

2012-02-10

Algeria and Libya signed an agreement to crack down on the cross-border trafficking of Libyan weapons, APS reported on Thursday (February 9th). The accord was signed Wednesday in Algiers by Libyan Interior Ministry Secretary-General Omar Hocine Khadraoui, as part of preparations for a visit later this month by Libyan Interior Minister Fawzi Abdelali.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2012/02/10/newsbrief-02.

Algeria to open relations with Libya transitional council

Despite earlier accusations of support for the Kadhafi regime during the conflict, Algeria moves toward relations with Libya's rebel government.

By Walid Ramzi for Magharebia in Algiers – 24/08/11

As Libyan rebels reclaim Tripoli and the Kadhafi regime ends, Algeria is working to establish formal relations with the Libya's Transitional National Council (TNC).

In a response issued Tuesday (August 23rd), Algeria's foreign ministry said the country had opened channels of communication with the TNC. Algeria's highest priorities in Libya, according to the statement, are general security, enduring stability, unity and political reform.

The Algerian government said it would move quickly towards normalized relations with the TNC if it issued an apology for earlier charges against the Algerian regime.

The ministry repeated Algeria's denial of assisting Kadhafi's regime during the conflict: "Since the outbreak of protests in Benghazi in mid February, Algeria didn't support, whether militarily or politically or in any other form, Kadhafi's regime," it reads.

Amid reports of theft and vandalism at the Algerian embassy in Tripoli, Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci sent an urgent message to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to take the necessary actions to ensure the safety of Algerian diplomats.

With the military situation in flux, Algeria on Sunday placed ground forces posted along the Libyan border on high alert and increased aerial surveillance after groups of armed four-wheel drive vehicles were spotted in the area.

Algerian political parties reacted to the Libyan rebel victories. The Socialist Forces Front (FFS) described the imminent fall of Moamar Kadhafi's regime as "good news for all strugglers for freedom and democracy in the entire world".

The party called on the Libyan people "to quickly unite around a truly representative national leadership that can build a sovereign state of rights and democracy". However, the party expressed its fears that this democratic transition "may face greater difficulties in its implementation".

The Movement of Society for Peace (MSP) issued a congratulatory statement on Tuesday, saying: "The road is still long and difficult to re-build a state commensurate with the size of sacrifices that the steadfast Libyan people have offered… Libya's future today is in your hands."

Analysts warn of the regional impact regime change may have on security.

Dr. Mhend Berkouk, professor of international relations at the University of Algiers and director of the Center for Security and Political Studies, said that Kadhafi's fall could lead to an increase in refugees, cross-border organized crime and terrorist threats in the Sahel and North Africa.

As to the effects of Libyan turmoil on Algeria's energy sector, former Sonatrach executive Abdelmadjid Attar said there was no real threat to investments in the Ghadames basin. Sonatrach's operations in Libya will continue, he said.

Source: Magharebia.
link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/08/24/feature-02.

Somalia drought victims receive aid from Algeria

2011-08-23

Algeria is participating in international efforts to tackle the food crisis in Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Eritrea and Somalia. The first planeload of emergency humanitarian aid for Horn of Africa countries delivered 54 tonnes of food, tents and medicines to Somalia last week.

The operation is "a token of the solidarity that Algeria is showing to the nations of the Horn of Africa", Minister of African and Maghreb Affairs Abdelkader Messahel said August 18th. "Somalia and the other countries in the Horn of Africa are in a tragic situation," he said.

The first of the two-stage relief operation will deliver 600 tonnes of food and medicine to the Dadaab camp on the Kenyan border. The place is home to more than 400,000 refugees. The second stage will be implemented over the next few weeks, with aid being sent to Uganda, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Eritrea. The ports of Mombasa and Djibouti will receive 10,000 tonnes of food and medicine.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/08/23/newsbrief-06.

Algeria sends aid to Horn of Africa

2011-08-18

Algeria on Wednesday (August 17th) dispatched its first planeload of emergency humanitarian aid to Horn of Africa countries hit by famine, APS reported. The flight from Blida carried 54 tonnes of food, drugs and tents and medication to Somalia.

In what the foreign ministry called an "expression of solidarity", Algeria has pledged $10 million in assistance to drought victims in Somalia, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya and Eritrea.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/08/18/newsbrief-06.

Algerian harragas caught off Annaba coast

2011-08-16

Annaba coast guard (GTCC) officers on Monday (August 15th) intercepted a boat carrying 23 Algerian harragas, El Watan reported. Two women and three children, including an 18-month-old baby, were among the illegal immigrants from Annaba, Algiers, El Tarf and Batna. They were headed to Sardinia when they were stopped several miles off El Tarf's Chatt Beach.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/08/16/newsbrief-07.

'Rahma' restaurants help needy Algerians during Ramadan

Free meals, food baskets and financial support are being handed out to poor families across Algeria as part of holy month celebrations.

By Lyes Aflou for Magharebia in Algiers – 15/08/11

Many needy Algerian families rely on the generosity of the state and private individuals for food during the holy month of Ramadan. Free meals, home-delivered food baskets and financial support are the primary forms of help.

According to the Ministry of Solidarity, nearly 1.5 million needy families will benefit from the food donations. Disadvantaged families and individuals with special needs, such as the disabled, receive baskets containing vegetables, fruit and dairy products necessary for a balanced diet.

More than five million meals are also being served at some 691 "rahma" (mercy) restaurants across the country. Roughly 13,000 volunteers have been recruited to help with the task. The Algerian Red Crescent, the Muslim Scouts and charities are all involved in running and funding the restaurants. Health inspection committees are monitoring the restaurants to prevent any outbreak of food poisoning.

A national committee with provincial and commune-level offices has been set up to organize the solidarity effort.

In Algiers alone, more than 27,000 food baskets and more than 90,000 envelopes containing money were distributed within the first nine days of the month, Radia Benmiloud, head of the Department for Social Action said August 10th.

Benmiloud stated that the baskets, which contain food between 6,000 and 9,000 dinars in value, include basic essentials such as couscous, flour, sugar, coffee, rice, dried vegetables and oil.

"The work of the national solidarity sector and the province and communes of Algiers has been co-ordinated with the contributions of benefactors in order to ensure that this expression of collective generosity will be successful," she said.

As for the direct financial support, she said: "Money orders of between 6,000 and 10,000 dinars, according to the funds available within each commune, were given after the individual needs of certain needy families had been examined".

In Algiers alone, nearly 190,000 eat-in meals and 57,730 take-away meals have been served, Benmiloud said. Homeless people, travelers passing through Algiers and those who are apart from their loved ones and cannot afford a substantial meal are able to visit any of 143 free restaurants.

Mokrane, who is unemployed, visited a "rahma restaurant" on Rue Larbi Ben M'hidi in central Algiers. Although the meals, which consist of a starter, a main course and a dessert, are free, the way in which they are served left something to be desired, in his opinion.

"In order to serve everyone, over a hundred people, the staff must sometimes serve the meals more than an hour before the fast ends. As a result, the meals are cold and lose their flavor," he told Magharebia.

Hamid, a waiter, told Magharebia that was to be expected "given the large number of diners who queue up before the restaurant opens, if you want to eat when the muezzin calls".

"We don't need to serve up haute cuisine," said Salah, another diner. "The food is given to us free of charge and it's just as good as what you could have at home if your financial situation was better than ours."

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/08/15/feature-03.

Algeria seeks alternatives to hydrocarbon economy

The Algerian president is the latest to call for the country's diversification from the energy sector.

By Walid Ramzi for Magharebia in Algiers – 10/08/11

The Algerian government is looking to reduce the economy's dependence on the hydrocarbon sector, which represents 98% of the country's currency income.

"Algeria is called upon to exert a great effort to bring its economy out of dependence on oil and to diversify its resources so as not to be a hostage to the fluctuation of oil prices in international markets," President Abdelaziz Bouteflika said at an August 4th meeting on the energy sector.

Economists have long raised concerns over the vulnerability of the Algerian financial system to shocks in the event of a drop in oil prices. Experts warn the dependence could continue in the coming years unless action is taken.

"The danger of the situation in the medium term is continuation of the economy being excessively linked to oil and gas prices in the world market, and the absence of any serious strategy to support economic diversification," economist Mohamed Sellama told Magharebia.

He said that at the end of 2010, the hydrocarbon sector comprised a third of GDP, the equivalent of 98% of total exports and more than 70% budget revenue.

The economist stressed the necessity of adopting other means to develop the Algerian economy, particularly by relying on the knowledge economy. Sellama said Algeria "should quickly prepare for a post-petroleum phase with the acquisition of additional resources from other sectors, particularly agriculture and tourism".

A government report released last year showed that the value of Algeria's hydrocarbon exports during the period between 2000 and 2009 amounted to nearly $400 billion. The report said Algeria produces 1.45 million barrels of oil per day and 152 billion cubic meters of natural gas. It exports about 62 billion cubic meters annually and plans to increase the exports to 85 billion cubic meters per year beginning in 2013.

"The Algerian economy is facing a double jeopardy because of the nature of exports, as hydrocarbons make up 98% of exports and, in addition, half of the exports of non-hydrocarbon products are in fact derived from oil," noted Samir Kateb, a financial affairs journalist.

In the opinion of many citizens, continuing to rely entirely on oil will lead the Algerian economy into an abyss. Businessman Mohamed Amarni, age 45, said, "Despite the government's announcing several measures to raise the level of public expenditure and to increase salaries, they remain insufficient to address the structural imbalances of the Algerian economy."

Amarni said Algerian companies face administrative complexities and a bureaucratic banking system that stood in the way of efforts to improve competitiveness.

"The deteriorating business environment, the instability of the legislation and the rules governing investment weaken the country's attractiveness for investment and discourage foreign investors from launching industrial and service projects that could enhance the domestic economic fabric and support its competitiveness," he added.

Economics student Said Brakni believes that talk about diversifying the Algerian economy "is an old record officials have repeated for several years without anything being achieved on the ground".

For her part, Halima Salhi, a media company employee, believes that solutions exist but the "political will and courage in taking strategic decisions do not exist".

"What is required is implementation of solutions, and we want to see results with our own eyes and without deception as soon as possible," she said.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/08/10/feature-01.

Algeria creates one million new jobs

2011-08-09

Algeria created more than one million jobs in the first half of 2011, according to an economic report released by the prime minister's office on Monday (August 8th). The government analysis cited job growth in the administrative, agricultural, industrial, handicraft and service sectors.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/08/09/newsbrief-04.

Algerian Islamists launch new party

New Algerian political party FJD is raising questions about a possible schism in the Islamist movement.

By Ademe Amine for Magharebia in Algiers – 08/08/11

Long-time Algerian Islamist Abdellah Djaballah recently created a new political party, shaking up the conservative political landscape.

Djaballah announced the formation of the Justice and Development Front (FJD) before of a crowd of nearly 1,500 people who had come to attend his party's inaugural congress July 30th in Algiers. The founder and one-time leader of the Ennahda and El Islah parties appealed to his former colleagues and those in the Islamist movement as a whole to join his new faction.

The announcement did not go unnoticed those by the Islamist movement, which some claim is losing ground in Algeria.

"We have no issues with Mr Djaballah," said Fatah Rebii, Ennahda secretary-general. "We will contact this new party and engage with him in dialogue as we do with other political parties." Rebii also did not rule out the idea of an alliance for the 2012 legislative and local elections "if Mr Djaballah wants one".

Addressing an enthusiastic crowd at the first FJD congress, Djaballah said his group would "campaign for a democratic and social Algeria", adding that the party was "interested in all national affairs in all sectors".

"In addition, we want to serve our religion, our country and our nation. A holy trinity. A country and a nation without Islam has no value in the eyes of God. Striving for life and the afterlife is a duty. Victory in life, heaven in the afterlife," Djaballah said.

The leaders of the Movement for the Society of Peace (MSP), a moderate Islamist party in the ruling coalition, have said nothing about the new party.

Djamal Ben Abdeslam, a leader of the Islamist El Islah party, described the announcement of a new party as "a non-event".

"El Islah campaigners know this man well," he added. "They were with him from the time when he led our party just as he wished and they won't respond to his appeal today."

El Islah Secretary-General Hamlaoui Akouchi said, "I don't think our campaigners will join Djaballah's party and anyone who wants to leave is free to do so."

The political arena is open and "free for anyone who wants to create his own party", Akouchi added. "It's up to citizens to choose the party they like."

"We accept plurality within the Islamist movement, just as we accept plurality within other movements such as secular ones", Akouchi said. "We are not worried about any parties on the political stage as long as they use democratic practices that are far from violence."

The FJD is the third Islamist political party created by Abdellah Djaballah, who is regarded as one of the most outspoken Islamist leaders and the most critical of government policy. He launched the Ennahda party after democratic reforms in the 1990s before setting up El Islah.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/08/08/feature-01.

Erdogan: France massacred 15% of Algerian population

2011-12-23

ISTANBUL (Turkey) - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday accused France of committing "genocide" in Algeria after French lawmakers voted a bill criminalizing the denial of Armenian genocide.

"France massacred an estimated 15 percent of the Algerian population starting from 1945. This is genocide," Erdogan told a news conference after the French move on the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman-era forces.

The Turkish premier accused French President Nicolas Sarkozy of "fanning hatred of Muslims and Turks for electoral gains."

France is home to around 500,000 citizens of Armenian descent and they are seen as a key source of support for Sarkozy and his UMP ahead of presidential and legislative elections in April and June next year.

On Thursday, France's National Assembly voted the first step towards passing a law that would impose a jail term and a 45,000 euro fine on anyone in France who denies that the 1915 massacre of Armenians constitutes genocide.

During World War I hundreds of thousands of Armenians died at the hands of Ottoman Turk forces. Armenia says 1.5 million died in a genocide, Turkey says around 500,000 died in fighting after they sided with a Russian invasion.

France's Foreign Minister Alain Juppe called on Turkey not to "overreact" to a bill that he insisted was a parliamentary initiative, and not a project of Sarkozy's government.

France has a 500,000-strong community of Armenian descent, many of whose forebears fled the killings a century ago, and French politicians assiduously court their votes every five years ahead of elections.

Turkey and many of Sarkozy's domestic opponents accuse him of jeopardizing relations with a key NATO ally and trading partner to win Armenian votes.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=49633.

Algeria to launch biometric passports

2011-12-21

Algeria will finally begin issuing biometric passports next month, Liberte reported on Wednesday (December 21st). According to Interior Minister Daho Ould Kablia, the high-tech Algeria biometric passport is "perfect in terms of security". A test run of the issuance process will be conducted in 50 communities, he said, with priority given to those who have never had a passport.

In 2009, Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia said the passports would give Algeria an extra tool in the fight against "terrorism, illegal immigration and various forms of organized crime".

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/12/21/newsbrief-08.

Bouteflika pledges transparent elections

2011-12-19

The Arab League, United Nations, EU, African Union and other organizations will be invited to observe Algeria's parliamentary elections next spring, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika told legislators on Sunday (December 18th). The elections will be followed by a revision of the constitution, in line with the Algeria reforms promised last April, he said.

The government will also authorize new political parties and launch a wide-scale media campaign about the parliamentary poll, Bouteflika said.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/12/19/newsbrief-03.

Algeria passes divisive media law

Observers say a restrictive new press act isolates Algeria at a time of expanding freedom throughout the Arab world.

By Nazim Fethi for Magharebia in Algiers – 19/12/11

Algeria's People's National Assembly passed a controversial new media law on Wednesday (December 14th), despite opposition from journalists and many politicians.

Although the act does away with prison sentences for journalists, opens up the audio-visual sector to private companies and includes a provision for new authorities to govern the press, it also places numerous restrictions on the free exercise of reporters, particularly in terms of access to sources of information.

"The law contains serious restrictions imposed in the name of defending the country's foreign policy and economic interests," according to Mustapha Bouchachi, president of the Algerian Human Rights League. In his view, the new legislation restricts freedom of expression through "a series of considerations adapted by the regime to suit its own interests".

Khaled Bourayou, a lawyer who specializes in defending journalists, commented that the new law was "merely window-dressing by the authorities for the sake of our image abroad, when the reality is different". He said he lamented the situation in terms of free expression following the act's passage, adding that "all efforts made by media professionals to improve the law were ignored".

Bourayou called on "all parties worried about the future of civil liberties in this country to continue their efforts to guarantee freedom of expression".

Kamel Amrani, National Journalists' Union Secretary-General, said that his union warned against amending the 1990 Information Act. "We said that amending it would not necessarily mean that greater freedoms would be guaranteed," he said.

As the vote was taking place, press freedom campaigners gathered outside parliament. The demonstrators issued a statement expressing their "rejection of the bill on the Information Code, which does not address the expectations, aspirations and hopes of journalists, who aspire to professional and social protection".

"To speak of an opposition force, you must first have a political scene. In Algeria, however, we no longer have politics or a political scene," commented Redouane Boudjemaa, an information and communication science teacher.

"The Algerian authorities are moving even closer towards the margins of history," Boudjemaa added. "They are thinking about their own interests, not the interests of the state."

Brahim Brahimi, the head of the journalism graduate school in Algiers, commented that "the adoption of the two laws runs counter to what is going on around the world and the Arab world in particular".

"With this law, we are isolating ourselves," Brahimi said. "What's more, the law goes against the reforms. In 1990, we insisted on the right to information, and now, with the opening-up of the audio-visual sector, we need to emphasize the right to communicate."

"We are really taking a backwards step towards the law of 1982. The press must prove that it is the second authority in Algeria. Journalists must step up their efforts. The authorities have succeeded in destabilizing political parties without the courts daring to react," he added.

"The press must now keep fighting to ensure that civil society finds its rightful place in a modern state," Brahimi said.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/12/19/feature-02.

Education strike to hit Algeria

2011-12-18

Algeria's National Union of Education Workers (SNTE) plans to mount a one-week strike on Monday (December 19th), El Watan quoted the union's national co-ordinator, Ben Medour Nadjib, as saying. The union told members to prepare for a prolonged campaign, including hunger strikes, and will continue the action if the education ministry fails to meet their demands. The union's demands include a variety of increases in compensation, benefits, and working conditions.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/12/18/newsbrief-04.

Film reveals Paris crackdown of 1961 Algeria protest

By Andrew Hammond | Reuters
Saturday 17/12/2011

DUBAI (Reuters) - When Yasmina Adi got access to archives documenting the 1961 repression of Algerian protesters in Paris, she was shocked to uncover a trove of material relating to gaps in the story of one of the most contested events in recent French history.

As Algeria's battle for independence spilled into France, Paris police chief Maurice Papon ordered police to crack down on thousands of Algerian protesters who defied a curfew on October 17 1961. Dozens of bodies were later pulled from the River Seine.

Papon, who died in 2007, was the only French Nazi official to be convicted for his role in the deportation of Jews during World War Two. France has acknowledged the deaths of 40 people in the 1961 incident, but Adi says her research suggests it was much worse.

"This period remains a blank page. France doesn't recognize October 17 in school history books, it is not mentioned. Nothing you saw is in textbooks," Adi, who is of Algerian origin, said after "Here We Drown Algerians - October 17, 1961" aired at the Dubai International Film Festival this week.

"The people you saw are getting old, so this is an attempt to maintain the historical memory."

The documentary is narrated through the testimony of Algerians dragged off the streets by police and uses archive footage showing haunting images of thousands held in detention centers, transported in buses and sitting in planes during deportation.

A media campaign branded the protesters as Muslim terrorists, Adi's film says.

Some, such as Hadda Khalfi, one of the main interviewees who explains how her husband disappeared never to return, have never received an apology or compensation from the state.

"I managed to (access) the archives of the police department and state archives, which even some historians have not got permission to see. Then I asked myself what security bodies were there, and I found they all had their own archives," Adi said.

"It was the same for the filmed material... sometimes I noticed there were two people taking photos, so I said I have to go find them," she added.

"So I pieced together each part, when they put the Algerians on buses, when they detained them at the police department, the unseen photos from the Palais du Sport, the expulsions, the women's protest. At a certain point I said to myself 'wow'."

The true number of those who died may never be known.

"It's difficult to establish a figure. Some say 100, some say 200, some say 400, it's complicated. The police prefecture has a list of dead but these lists are not trustworthy," Adi said. "We could say around more than 1,500 were expelled."

GRAFFITI

Adi took the title for the film from graffiti daubed on a bridge over the Seine on October 28 1961 and caught on camera before the authorities could remove it. The words and the image she says dropped out of France's collective consciousness for decades.

She says France's unwillingness to offer more public recognition of what happened in those days contrasts with France's championing of Arab Spring causes such as Libya, which was taken up by President Nicolas Sarkozy and Bernard Henri-Levy, a prominent public intellectual in France.

"Sarkozy has said a few weeks ago why should Turkey be in Europe? If you Turks want to be in Europe you have to recognize the Armenian genocide. Before giving lessons to others, France ought to look at itself in history," she said.

"As citizens we should not allow ourselves to be manipulated by methods, images, language, because they cross time and governments take up the same methods and language."

France has had a complex relationship with Algeria since it was forced to give up a colony it ruled for 132 years in 1962 after a bitter war. Sarkozy has refused to apologize for Algerian dead.

France considered Algeria an integral part of the French state and more than 1 million French fled the country in the months before Algeria finally became independent.

Adi said she was surprised to see large audiences of young French people attending the screenings of her film in France when it was released in October.

"There were few Algerians but many French at the screenings, because many young people in particular are rediscovering the past and realizing it's not an Algerian problem but a Franco-Algerian problem," she said.

(Writing by Andrew Hammond, editing by Paul Casciato)