News from Algeria 2006

[Al-khiyal]

Algeria in the news in the past week:

Iranian Vice-President in Legal and Majlis Affair Ahmad Mousavi arrives in the Algerian capital on January 13, 2006, for a three-day visit.

http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu...2940124309.htm

Vice-Speaker of Algerian People's National Assembly Konai Mohamed talks to Iranian Vice-President in Legal and Majlis Affair Ahmad Mousavi upon his arrival in Algiers on January 13, 2006.

http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu...0237124422.htm

ALGIERS, Jan. 13 (Xinhuanet) -- Algerian police nabbed 13 members of a terror group which was uncovered in a recent raid in western province of Tilimsen, Algerian news agency reported Friday.

The police seized a batch of ammunition as well as some trafficand communication equipment such as vehicles, mobile phones and computers......

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...nt_4051531.htm

PARIS — A number of French daily newspapers have come out with headlines and articles wondering about the fate of President Abdel Aziz Bouteflika of Algeria, predicting the existence of what they termed as a crisis of authority in Algeria.

Algerians, meanwhile, do not know who is ruling them as Tunisia and Morocco are also worried about his fate....

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayA...=theworld&col=

Pakistan, Algeria to cooperate in oil exploration

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Algeria have expressed their willingness to consider the possibility of participating in bidding for the acquisition of exploration blocks by SONATRACH in Pakistan and also to explore the possibility of entering into joint ventures for exploration in the public and private sectors.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...4-1-2006_pg5_5

Family who fled Algeria find new life in Wales

AN ALGERIAN journalist who fled his homeland in fear for his life has found a new life in Wales.

On Monday Adel Guemar and his family appear in a TV documentary that gives a powerful insight into what it is really like to be an asylum seeker in Britain......

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100n...name_page.html

Ironworks Aços Villares of Brazil wants to capture 20 pct market in Egypt, Saudi, Libya & Algeria

http://www.mesteel.com/cgi-bin/w3-ms...&v=slno&s=4217

Algeria: Experts question 'low' AIDS statistics

http://allafrica.com/stories/200601110598.html

More here:

http://allafrica.com/stories/200601080070.html

Nissan Patrol chosen by Algeria in latest fleet deal

NISSAN’S flagship Patrol has gained the seal of approval by Algeria’s Ministry of Interior as the best all-terrain vehicle to handle the country’s protection needs.....

http://www.timesofoman.com/newsdetai...41&pn=business

Statoil has secured two rigs for exploration drilling on land in Algeria. Plans call for drilling of the group's first exploration well on the Statoil-operated Hassi Mouina block to begin in the summer.

http://www.oilonline.com/news/headli...oil_.20052.asp

Algeria stresses peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear activities

http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu...3193094609.htm

Iran, Algeria study expansion of mutual ties

http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu...3732173057.htm

Algeria sees no need for Opec to cut output

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/st...ectID=10362896

Energy Minister Says Algeria's Gas Exports to Reach 85bn Cu.M. In 2010

http://www.redorbit.com/news/science...urce=r_science

Up to 22 people arrested in Algeria on charges of terrorism

http://www.kuna.net.kw/Home/Story.as...en&DSNO=803281

CAIRO [MENL] -- Algeria has been discussing the prospect of a $1.5 billion arms deal with Belarus.

Algeria's Defense Ministry has been examining the purchase of the MiG-29 aircraft of Belarus. Algerian defense sources said Belarus has offered a lower price for the aircraft than that of Russia....

http://www.menewsline.com/stories/20...y/01_08_3.html

[Al-khiyal]

Algeria to buy 70 Russian MiG-29 fighter jets:

Russian aircraft constructor MiG has signed an $1,5-million agreement with Algeria and will deliver about 70 multifunctional MiG-29 fighter jets to the country within the next few years, the Interfax news agency reported.

Algeria will pay the sum by repaying the Russian state debt and transferring money directly.

The MiG-29 that equals or surpasses the U.S. F-15C in several areas is a widely exported aircraft, flown by “friends” of the USSR and later Russia — Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and the like.....

http://mosnews.com/money/2006/01/17/algeriamig.shtml

US official arrives in Algeria to sign scientific, technological accord:

ALGIERS, Jan 17 (KUNA) -- US State Department Under-Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs Dr. Paula Dobriansky arrived in Algeria on Tuesday to sign an accord for bilateral cooperation in science and technology.

In a press statement, Dobriansky explained that the visit aims at boosting overall bilateral ties in science and technology, adding that the US also wanted at developing collaboration in terms of higher education.

She said meetings will be held with Algerian Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Rachid Harroubia and other local officials.

http://www.kuna.net.kw/Home/Story.as...en&DSNO=805961

Fonterra looking to Poland for Algeria:

Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd is looking at buying cheap milk from Poland to substitute for higher quality milk from New Zealand in its Algerian market, according to American academics.

The US-based Babcock Institute at Wisconsin University said Fonterra was considering a joint-venture deal with Polish dairy company Polindus.

Polindus is reported to have told a dairy news website, dairyreporter.com that Fonterra was interested in using it to supply milkpowder to the company's Algerian markets....

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3543146a13,00.html

Confab on Iran-Algeria business opportunity be held in Algiers:

Confab on 'Studying existing Business Opportunities in Iran-Algeria' kicked off on Sunday at Iran's Chamber of Commerce and Industries.

Participants from private and governmental-run organizations attended the meeting.

Algerian Ambassador to Tehran Mohamed al-Amin Doraqi highlighted existing economic potentials between the two countries and called for more active role of the private sectors in running developing and infrastructure projects.

Formation of Iran-Algeria Joint Economic Commission would lead to further expansion of economic cooperation between the two countries, he said.

According to new banking reforms in Algeria, foreign banks such as those of the Islamic Republic of Iran can play a much more active presence in the country's economy, he pointed out....

http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu...1098192921.htm

[Al-khiyal]

Latest headlines:

Fifty-five people convert to Islam in Algeria during 2005:

ALGIERS, Jan 20 (KUNA) -- Fifty-five foreigners converted to Islam in Algeria during 2005, said the Algerian Religious Affairs and Awqaf Ministry on Friday.

forty men and 15 women aging between 40 and 80 years old from Europe, Asia and the US converted to Islam during the past year, it added....

http://www.kuna.net.kw/Home/Story.as...en&DSNO=806843

Confirmation that Algeria's Russian jets are not some bargain basement $1.5 million buy but are indeed a $1.5 billion purchase:

70 Russian jets for Algeria at $ 1.5 billion

http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Dail...006012022.html

Yemen, Algeria discuss technical education cooperation:

SANA'A,(Saba) - Minister of Technical Education & Vocational Training Ali Mansur bin Safa met here on Sunday the delegation of Algerian experts.

The delegation is to train the Yemeni teachers in the institutes and technical institutions....

http://www.sabanews.net/view.php?sco...&ir=&id=106067

Algeria steps up measures against Bird Flu:

ALGIERS - Algeria will spend eight billion dinars ($111 million) to protect itself from any outbreak of bird flu in the North African country, state radio said on Sunday.


Health Minister Amar Tou was quoted as saying the money would be used to import more than seven million doses of anti-viral drugs. He stressed that no case of the disease had been so far reported in the country....

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsst...4601/story.htm

Putin to visit Algeria in March:

Russian President Vladimir Putin is to visit Algeria in March, his national security chief, Igor Ivanov, said in Algiers on Saturday. The visit will give "fresh impetus" to relations between the two countries...

http://www.epicos.com/epicos/portal/...owfull=f alse

Algeria's Oil Minister sees crude staying above $50 for next 6 months:

ALGIERS, Jan 23, 2006 (Dow Jones Commodities News via Comtex) --Global oil prices are unlikely to fall below $50 a barrel for the next six months, as a robust global economy keeps demand high, Algeria's Oil Minister Chakib Khelil said Monday...

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/01/23/1306687.htm

[Al-khiyal]

Latest headlines

Algeria, Libya expel over 6.600 Africans:

NIAMEY - Libya and Algeria last year expelled more than 6,600 illegal African immigrants, the majority of them citizens of Niger, a government official said on Thursday.

"Since January 2005, some 6,641 west African nationals, most of them from Niger, were expelled from Libya and Algeria," Lawai Dan Azoumi, secretary general of the Agadez provincial goverment said.

The deportees were deposited at the desert town of Dirkou, before being transported for 500 kilometres in trucks to the main northern town of Agadez, from where the nationals of Niger are sent back to their respective villages and foreigners have the option to return home or stay in Niger.....

More:

http://www.businessinafrica.net/news...all/564921.htm

Handball: Angolan Embassy to Algeria congratulates African champions:

Angolan embassy to Algeria Thursday congratulated the national senior women team of handball that on Friday reached its 8th continental title in Tunis, saying this shows the effort of everyone towards the country's development....

http://allafrica.com/stories/200601260476.html

Amnesty International alert: Algeria: Fear of torture: Nouamane Meziche (m), aged 35, joint Algerian and French national

http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE280012006

Bird flu suspects in Algeria test negative:

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) - A hospital in the western Algerian city of Oran carried out precautionary tests for bird flu on a family of four, but initial results were negative, the hospital director said Wednesday....

http://www.brunet.bn/news/bb/thu/jan26w26.htm

Sniffex, Inc. announces agent agreement for Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, and Tunisia:

Sniffex, Inc., producers of Sniffex, an explosive detection device, and other homeland related products, announced today the signing of an exclusive marketing agreement with Smart Distributors & Suppliers (Smart) for Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Libya and Tunisia....

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/pro...126&ID=5452395

Algeria anticipates high world oil demand till mid 2006:

VIENNA, Jan 28 (KUNA) -- Algerian Minister of Energy and Mines Chakib Khalil ruled out production cuts by OPEC member states during their regular meeting here by end of the month, expressing belief that the group members would adhere to their latest oil output resolution....

http://www.kuna.net.kw/Home/Story.as...en&DSNO=809203

Algeria sees OPEC keeping output steady:

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...-1-2006_pg5_32

After years of fear, Algeria's skiers return:

TIKJDA, Algeria (Reuters) - Gazing at the cedar trees and snow-capped crags of this mountain ski resort, Abdenour Ouahi savours the delights of his sport.

"When I'm here, I feel at peace. I have no problems," said the 28-year-old, breathless after making his favourite descent at the 1,478 metres (4,850 feet)-high Tikjda ski centre.

The businessman's sentiments echo those of skiers the world over. But Tikjda is not just any winter playground: It is in Algeria, the giant north African oil-exporting country ravaged for much of the 1990s by civil war.

At the height of the conflict the picturesque hideaway was one of the country's most dangerous places. The isolated resort is cradled by the sublime peaks and valleys of the Djurdjura National Park, infested for years by guerrillas fighting to overthrow the government.

Even after the war started to wind down in the late 1990s, few dared visit a region where caves and gullies were used by the militants who turned Algeria into a byword for terror.

These days, snowball fights are the nearest thing to a conflict in Tikjda. The guerrillas are gone -- killed, imprisoned or amnestied.....

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/news...RE-ALGERIA.xml

Iran-Oil-Algeria:

Algerian Minister of Energy and Mines Chakib Khelil, speaking to the media on January 29, 2006, says that if Iran does reduce its oil export, it can hardly be replaced...

http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu...9215184330.htm

[Al-khiyal]

Updates:

Early elections in Algeria likely due to Butaflika's health:

http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Dail...006020212.html

Report: Salafist leader killed in Algeria:

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exer...BE36810C60.htm

Morocco protests Algeria signing contracts to explore oil in buffer strip:

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 1 (KUNA) - Morocco complained on Wednesday that Algeria is "increasingly" trying to establish a fait accompli in the buffer strip between the two countries by undertaking a number of activities including signing contracts with oil companies....

http://www.kuna.net.kw/Home/Story.as...en&DSNO=810533

Algeria invests oil export money internally:

Vienna - Oil cartel Opec's big Persian Gulf producers are reaping massive rewards from oil prices that are again close to record levels, but the picture is more complicated for smaller north African oil exporter Algeria.

While some of the highest earners are spending on glitzy real estate, as well as investing across an international range of assets, Algeria has been using its oil export money to rebuild and spur its economy after a decade of civil strife.

It is also grappling with soaring costs for equipment and oil services and variable foreign exchange rates.

"Most of the oil revenue will be going to the treasury to invest in a social programme and things like hospitals and schools, and water distribution. There is a tremendous need there," said Chakib Khelil, Algeria's minister of energy and mines....

http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fA...613&fSetId=662

[Al-khiyal]

Authorities in Algeria have reportedly closed two newspapers and arrested their editors for printing the now infamous cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

Even though the images were deliberately obscured, colleagues claim the editors of the pro-Islamist weeklies Errisala and Iqraa, were detained last week and will appear before an investigating judge in Algiers on Monday.

Authorities in Algeria have yet to comment on the reports.

Algeria arrests editors for publishing those cartoons

[Al-khiyal]

RABAT, Morocco, Feb. 12 — Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld said Sunday that he discussed possible arms sales to Algeria with the country's president in what other Pentagon officials described as a growing American effort to build a military relationship.

"They have things they desire, and we have things we can be helpful with," Mr. Rumsfeld told reporters about possible arms sales after meeting with the president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

A senior Pentagon official said Algeria was interested in high-technology equipment like night vision goggles and helicopters useful in tracking down suspected antigovernment fighters in the country's desertlike southern region.

Mr. Rumsfeld, who later flew to Morocco for talks with King Mohammed VI, is finishing a three-day visit to North Africa that also included a stop in Tunisia.

Pentagon officials said they believed that Mr. Rumsfeld was the first secretary of defense to visit Algeria, which shunned ties with Washington during the cold war and endured a brutal Islamic insurgency during the 1990's that kept American officials away.

Relations have warmed since 2001, which American officials attribute to what they call a realization on both sides that they face similar threats from Islamic militants.

American officials emphasized that any weapons sales would start slowly, so as not to worry Algeria's smaller neighbors or raise concerns in Congress about arming a country with a poor record on human rights.

Algeria may have grander ambitions, however. Pentagon officials say Algeria is interested in replacing its aging fleet of fighter aircraft. Recent published reports indicate that Russia is considering selling Algeria new MIG fighters as well as tanks and other military equipment.

Mr. Rumsfeld is the second senior American official to visit Algeria recently. The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Robert S. Mueller III, held talks with Algerian law enforcement officials this month on counterterrorism cooperation, an official said.

Mr. Rumsfeld said Mr. Bouteflika reviewed his country's decade-long battle with Islamic militant groups and offered suggestions to the United States for conducting what Bush administration officials have recently begun referring to as "the long war" against Islamic extremists.

"He described it from the inside as to what took place and how they fought off the terrorism," Mr. Rumsfeld told reporters. "It's instructive for us to realize that the struggle we're in is not unlike the struggle that the people of Algeria went through."

Rumsfeld's Algeria agenda: Arms sales and closer ties