News from Algeria 2007

[Al-khiyal]

ALGIERS (AFP) - Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Sunday appeared in public for the first time since two suicide bomb attacks on the government headquarters and a police station in Algiers killed 33 people.

Bouteflika began a tour of inspection of the Algiers region, which included opening a new medical complex at Dely-Brahim in the hills overlooking the capital.

Later he was to open a new court building in a bustling neighbourhood of Algiers before visiting the bedside of wounded victims in Wednesday's attacks at the Mustapha central hospital.....

Bouteflika makes first public appearance since Algiers attacks

[Al-khiyal]

Algeria criticises U.S. attack warning

Algeria on Sunday denounced as irresponsible a US embassy alert about possible imminent attacks in the capital, Algiers, saying it had caused panic in a city already on edge after three suicide bombings.

"They take us for idiots," Interior Minister Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni told reporters. "Who has an interest in causing panic? It is clear that there is scheming."

The Algerian Foreign Ministry summoned the US charge d'affaires and issued "a firm clarification" about the embassy's notice, saying in a statement the alert published on the embassy Web site was unacceptable, inopportune and fanciful.

Algeria summons U.S. envoy to protest about terror alert

[Al-khiyal]

15 morts et 7 personnes disparues à M’sila et Djelfa

ALGIERS, Algeria: Flooding in a rural region of Algeria has left at least 15 people dead and seven missing, the national police reported Sunday. Search operations were still in progress, and the toll could rise.

Pounding rains in the M'Sila region, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) southeast of Algiers, fed small rivers that overflowed their banks, carrying off most victims, police said. A group of people aboard a tourist van swept up by the waters of the Oued Tamsa were among the missing.

Roads were cut and several bridges were destroyed by the flooding, leaving some villages isolated. At least three homes in the village of Souamma were destroyed, officials said.

Some 600 cattle also were lost as fields were submerged in floodwaters, they said.

Flooding in rural Algeria kills at least 15; 7 people reported missing

[Al-khiyal]

April 15th: Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika shakes hands
with an unidentified senior officer during an opening ceremony
of "Algeria's Justice Council" headquarters in Algiers.


Police stand guard as Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika
inaugurates several facilities in Algiers, April 15th 2007:
From a 'psychology of policing' perspective this is 'bad policing'
as the stance of the officers sends a subliminal message
that 'the threat is in the crowd'.

[Al-khiyal]

Terrorisme à Boumerdès : Plusieurs groupes de soutien neutralisés

[Al-khiyal]

Algeria criticises U.S. attack warning

The Foreign Ministry summoned the U.S. charge d'affaires and issued "a firm clarification" about Saturday's warden notice, saying, in a statement, the alert published on the embassy Web site was unacceptable, inopportune and fanciful.

"The authorities have asserted to the American party the obligation to scrupulously respect the sovereignty of the country of accreditation and the principle of non-interference in its internal affairs."

The US Embassy Sunday denied having any « ulterior motives » after the Algerian Foreign Ministry’s summoning "Algerian media speculations claiming there were « ulterior motives » linked to the warning is inopportune " said the US diplomatic mission in Algiers in a press release.

U.S. Embassy denies any ulterior motives after Algerian FM summoning

[Al-khiyal]

Soldier killed in explosion at Boumerdès