News from Algeria 2007

[Al-khiyal]

Algeria, Germany to boost security co-operation

Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb: Germany shows concern

[Al-khiyal]

Mohammed Ali Kharoubi to El Khabar: "French authorities are rejecting my extradition"

[Al-khiyal]

ADDIS ABABA, January 29, 2007, (WAFA) - President Mahmoud Abbas met separately Monday on the margin of the African Summit in Addis Ababa with the Presidents of Algeria, Libya and Sudan.

The President briefed his counterparts on the latest developments of the Palestinian cause on the eve of Israeli government acts to change facts on the ground, stressing the necessity of resumption of the peace process that could lead to an independent Palestinian state within 1967 borders and in accordance with the Road Map, Arab Initiative and the UN resolutions.

The President also briefed his counterparts on the exerted efforts to form a national unity government that could be able to lift the imposed siege and abide by PLO commitments and the signed accords.

Mahmoud Abbas meets with Presidents of Algeria, Sudan & Libya

[Al-khiyal]

Algeria has promised to provide transportation for the deployment of African peacekeepers to Somalia, said African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson Alpha Oumar Konare Monday.

"Algeria has announced that it is ready to transport Ugandan and Rwandese troops to Somalia," Konare said when addressing the opening session of the 8th AU summit.

The chairman thanked the North African country, saying that this is an example that "Africa can be in a position to show its responsibility."

Konare urged a rapid deployment of peacekeepers to the Horn of Africa country, whose transitional federal government roused its powerful rival Islamist forces in a lightning battle under the Ethiopian military support.

"The more we delay in deploying the troops, the more risks for worsening situation," he said.

So far only Uganda, Nigeria, Malawi and Ghana have announced that they would contribute around 4,000 troops to the peacekeeping forces, half of the number that the AU has proposed.

"We have approached other countries and are waiting for response,"said Konare.

He expressed satisfaction with Ethiopian troops' withdrawal from Somalia, but cautioned that "if the troops of the African Mission in Somalia are not deployed quickly then chaos will descend."

Algeria pledges transportation for peacekeepers to Somalia

[Al-khiyal]

Algiers will in March host a summit of the heads of state and government for the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), Algerian news agency APS has reported.

This decision was announced by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is also the head of the NEPAD committee, at the end of NEPAD's 16th summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, APS reported on Sunday.

The Algiers meeting will use the occasion to examine the progress realized by the NEPAD since its inception, said Obasanjo.

It will also enable African countries to take a common position in anticipation of the G8 summit slated for July in Germany, he added.

Algiers to host summit on African development in March

[Al-khiyal]

6 soldiers killed, terrorist arrested

[Al-khiyal]

Algiers - Seven people were killed, five of them soldiers, in separate attacks by terrorist groups in Algeria over a 48-hour period, local media reported on Tuesday.

Four soldiers and a local policeman were killed early on Monday in a mortar attack on a military base at Batna, 435km east of the capital Algiers.

In the ensuing reprisal, Algerian troops killed about 10 members of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), a terrorist group associated with al-Qaeda, in a sweeping operation in the region around Batna.

In addition, one Algerian soldier was killed and another injured during a battle with suspected Islamist terrorists at Ain Kechra, some 550 kilometres east of Algiers.

In related news, a former fighter for Algerian independence was found dead at a fake military roadblock erected by Islamic insurgents at Boumerdes, 50 kilometres east of Algiers.

Seven dead in terrorist attacks