News from Algeria 2007

[Al-khiyal]

BRUSSELS – MRSA - bacteria resistant to antibiotics – has taken a heavy toll in the military hospital in Neder-over-Heembeek. Two of the six patients infected with the strain died.

This emerged from Defence Minister André Flahaut's answer to questions in parliament from MP Hilde Dierickx (VLD).

The minister confirmed that the extremely aggressive bacteria Actinobacter was discovered in an Algerian patient who had been admitted to intensive care. The patient has since died.

Flahaut says that the medical team followed proper procedure. The intensive care unit was evacuated and decontaminated by a specialised company.

Despite the precautions six others became infected. Two patients are still under hospital care, two others have been discharged, and two have died.

MRSA kills two in hospital

[Al-khiyal]

La nouvelle télévision Nessma TV, dont le siège se trouve en Tunisie, sera lancée le 27 février prochain. c’est ce qui a été annoncé par son directeur général Nebil Karaoui lors d’une conférence de presse qu’il avait animée hier à l’hôtel Sheraton en présence de chanteurs, comédiens et techniciens de l’audiovisuel, tels que Chaou Abdelkader, Nada Rihane, Baaziz, Hicham Mesbah… Le coup d’envoi de cette nouvelle chaîne sera inaugurée avec l’émission Star academy qui sera le programme phare de cette chaîne.

Le conférencier a expliqué la manière du déroulement du casting qui s’est déroulé en Algérie, en Tunisie, au Maroc, en Libye et en Europe où se trouve la communauté maghrébine. Ce qui a abouti à une sélection de trois personnes par pays, sur plus de 1000 candidats qui se sont présentés.

Il a déclaré que cette chaîne s’adresse essentiellement aux téléspectateurs maghrébins à qui il sera proposé un programme riche et varié qui tiendra compte des spécificités de cette région, avec ses coutumes et ses mœurs, «soit un concept qui sera regardé par des familles maghrébines et qui ne heurterait pas leur sensibilité».

Quant à la langue qui sera utilisée, notre interlocuteur a indiqué que «c’est la langue courante des ressortissants de ces pays qui sera utilisée». Toujours sur ce sujet, à certains journalistes qui se sont inquiétés sur ce que vont penser les ressortissants du Moyen-Orient sur cette approche, M. Karaoui a répondu : «pourquoi les téléspectateurs de nos pays maghrébins ont fait des efforts pour comprendre leur dialecte, alors qu’eux refusent carrément de voir nos produits, à commencer par nos chanteurs et nos films sur leurs écrans, alors que nos chaînes sont inondées par leurs produits».

Et d’ajouter : «notre chaîne est ouverte à tous les talents des pays arabes, mais elle gardera un cachet purement maghrébin». Quant au personnel de Star academy, le directeur de cette entreprise a indiqué qu’il sera recruté parmi les professionnels des pays du Maghreb.

A commencer par Lemkecher Fatma Khédidja qui occupera le poste de directrice, Hicham Mesbah en tant que professeur de théâtre, Baaziz en tant que chef d’orchestre et d’autres personnes que les responsables de Nessma TV va intégrer dans son équipe.

Star academy, programme phare de cette chaîne

[Al-khiyal]

Algeria, Portugal sign agreements to enhance cooperation

Portugal and Algeria have signed a strategic energy sector cooperation pact during their first bilateral summit, where a range of political accords and bilateral business contracts were also inked, officials said.

Speaking at the close of the one-day leaders' summit last week in Algiers, Portuguese Prime Minister Jos Scrates described the bilateral energy accord as "important" because it intensifies two-way trade and investment relations.
Lisbon and Algiers' strategic energy accord will "strengthen guarantee of supply of natural gas (from Algeria) to Portugal in terms of quantity and delivery date", said Lisbon's economy minister, Manuel Pinho.

"We'll return to Lisbon with much more solid relations with Algeria", he added.
Prime Minister Scrates, speaking at the summit's closing ceremony at the side of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, said Lisbon's political and business delegation had "come here to express the confidence we have in the Algerian economy and its successful development".

A parallel strategic agreement was also signed between Portugal's EDP power utility and Algerian energy group Sonatrach, under which the latter could purchase a stake in the Portuguese firm.

In addition to energy, bilateral accords in the areas of justice, culture, public works and transport and finance were also signed during the inaugural Portugal-Lisbon summit - expected to have a follow-up meeting next year.
Various bilateral economic seminars occurred in the Algerian capital during the summit and resulted in a number of partnership accords between firms from both countries.

Portuguese engineering group Coba, present in Algeria for nearly 30 years, is to design a dam at Beni-Slimane in an 18-month project worth euros 2 million.
An initial order worth euros 115 million for rehabilitation of a 240-km stretch of railway in western Algeria was also signed with Portugal's Somafel group, which will head the consortium carrying out the work after a final contract is formalised soon.

A group of Portuguese construction firms, led by Mota-Engil, has also proposed partnerships with Algerian companies in tenders for projects in Africa and Latin America, Portuguese Minister of Public Works and Transport Mario Lino said last week on the sidelines of the Algiers summit.

Portugal signs energy pact with Algeria

[Al-khiyal]

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council Thursday (February 1st) that he plans to appoint British diplomat Julian Harston as his special envoy for Western Sahara and head of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara. Harston will replace Italian Francesco Bastagli. The move aims at "spearheading efforts to re-start the long-stalled peace process in Western Sahara," the UN said.

Ki-moon appoints British diplomat Julian Harston Special Representative for Western Sahara

[Al-khiyal]

Rabat, Feb 03: A Moroccan ex-Guantanamo detainee accused of briefly being a member of Osama bin Laden's personal bodyguard has been given a 10-year jail sentence by a Moroccan anti-terrorism court.

Mohamed Ben Moujane, who in October last year was handed over to Morocco by US authorities, denied terrorism but admitted visiting an Al-Qaida training camp and meeting Bin Laden in Afghanistan.

Ben Moujane, 25, had been charged with "membership of a criminal group with the aim of preparing to commit terrorist acts" and "failing to denounce crimes against state security".

According to the court, Ben Moujane part of the Al-Qaida leader's corps of bodyguards before he was arrested by Pakistani troops in 2001 and handed over to American troops.

His lawyer, Idriss Oua Ali, called on the court to acquit the defendant, arguing that he had already spent five years in Guantanamo.

It is the toughest sentence handed down by the court to seven ex-Guantanamo detainees to have appeared before it.

Three other former inmates of the notorious US detention centre were last year given jail sentences of between three and five years, while five others were acquitted by the court in a judgment last month.

In a separate case, the court sentenced 17 members of the Al Qaida-linked Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) to up to 10 years in jail.

Six of the suspects had been handed over by Algeria, where they had been arrested on suspicion of recruitment for the GSPC.

[Al-khiyal]

TEHRAN - Six envoys representing the Non-Aligned Movement of developing nations arrived in Iran on Saturday to visit nuclear sites as part of an effort by Teheran to show “transparency” over its disputed atomic project.

The United States, which accuses Iran of secretly working to make atomic bombs under cover of a civilian nuclear programme to generate electricity, has said that simply putting Iran’s nuclear activities on display would not build confidence abroad.

The NAM diplomats, accredited to the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, are due to visit a facility near the central Iranian city of Isfahan that converts uranium ore into feedstock uranium hexafluoride (UF6) gas.

Journalists have been invited to join them on the trip.

The group is not due to visit the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, where UF6 gas is fed into centrifuges to make fuel for nuclear power plants or, if greatly enriched, material for warheads. Iran says it plans to increase its enrichment capacity at Natanz soon.

Iran’s official news agency IRNA said the trip was “based on Iran’s policy for peaceful nuclear activities” and said Teheran was showing “transparency”.

“They are not technical people and will not be able to pass judgment on what is going on (technically). This is a publicity exercise, that’s the main point,” a NAM ambassador in Vienna, where the IAEA is based, said of the visit.

The group comprises ambassadors from Egypt, Malaysia, Cuba, Algeria and Sudan, and a Syrian representing the Arab League.

They are due to hold talks with Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation, Gholamreza Aghazadeh, and leave on Monday.

Iran has come under mounting pressure over its nuclear programme, which Teheran insists is purely civilian.

The UN Security Council slapped sanctions on Iran on Dec. 23, banning the transfer of sensitive materials and know-how for Iran’s nuclear and missile programmes. The resolution gave Iran 60 days to suspend uranium enrichment work.

Iran reacted by refusing entry to 38 out of 200 IAEA inspectors who want to check Iranian facilities to verify that material is not being diverted to bomb making.

The United States has increased the pressure by imposing sanctions on two big Iranian banks and sending a second aircraft carrier to the Gulf, a move widely seen as a warning to Iran.

Washington has said it wants diplomacy to end the standoff but has not ruled out military action if that fails.

Despite the pressure, Iran says it plans to install 3,000 more centrifuges at Natanz, adding to about 350 experimental machines it now runs. With 3,000 machines running, Iran could make material for at least one warhead in a year, experts say.

[Al-khiyal]

Samedi 3 Février 2007 - - Quatre jours après l’explosion d’une bombe au siège de l’APC de Ouled Aïssa, les terroristes ont récidivé avant-hier en déposant une autre à l’intérieur du siège de la mairie de Baghlia, commune frontalière avec Ouled Aïssa. Mais cette bombe de forte puissance a pu être désamorcée à temps par une équipe de déminage de l’ANP dépêchée sur les lieux. Selon nos sources, ce sont des citoyens qui ont donné l’alerte après avoir découvert les deux gardiens de l’APC ligotés devant le siège de la mairie. Par ailleurs, une autre bombe a explosé, hier, au stade communal de Benchoud faisant quatre blessés légers parmi les citoyens dont deux joueurs de l’équipe de football locale. La bombe avait été dissimulée à l’intérieur d’une brique en parpaing avant d’être déposée sur le toit des vestiaires quelques minutes seulement avant l’entrée sur le terrain des joueurs de l’équipe de football de Benchoud et son adversaire du jour, l’équipe d’Afir. C’est la deuxième fois en l’espace d’un mois qu’une bombe explose dans un stade en plein déroulement d’une partie de football. La première fois, c’était à Baghlia où une bombe actionnée à distance a fait deux blessés dont un policier. Ces attentats presque tous localisés à l’extrême-est de la wilaya de Boumerdès, qui seraient l’œuvre de la seriat Baghlia écumant la forêt d’Azerouel, laissent penser que le GSPC tente de diversifier ses cibles.

En choisissant les sièges de commissariats, de mairies et les stades, le GSPC nouvelle version tente de justifier maladroitement et tête baissée son allégeance à Al-Qaïda, quitte à s’attaquer à des citoyens sans défense, et de surcroît à des jeunes qui ont choisi de ressembler à Zidane et non à Ben Laden.

Une bombe explose dans un stade à Benchoud : Quatre blessés dont deux joueurs