News from Algeria 2009

[Al-khiyal]

Samy Naceri arrested over Paris stabbing

French actor detained over Paris bar stabbing

PARIS, January 9, 2009 (AFP) — French actor Samy Naceri, a star of the acclaimed war drama Indigènes (Days of Glory) who has had a string of run-ins with the law, was in police custody Friday over the stabbing of a man in a Paris bar.

Naceri, 47, allegedly pulled out a switch-blade knife and attacked a man who had arrived at the bar in an upscale area of central Paris where the actor was meeting with his ex-girlfriend and her friend.

A heated argument had broken out earlier between Naceri and the two women, who hid in the bar's toilets and called the man by cellphone for help.

Naceri returned to his Paris apartment after the attack and was picked up by police Thursday evening, police said. The victim was recovering.

The actor was being held in police custody at a Paris hospital where he was being treated for liver problems, according to police.

He was expected to appear before a judge in the coming days to be formally charged with attempted homicide, a judicial source said.

Born in Paris to a French mother and Algerian father, Naceri has admitted to having an alcohol problem and friends have described his mental health as fragile.

Naceri shared in a best actor's award at the Cannes film festival in 2006 given to the cast of Indigènes, a World War II drama about four north African men fighting in the French army.

He has also starred in all four Taxi films - written by Fifth Element and Nikita director Luc Besson - since the hit series began in 1988. A Hollywood version came out in 2005 with Queen Latifah in Naceri's role.

[Al-khiyal]

Alger le 9 janvier 2009

[Al-khiyal]

Moroccan terror fugitive caught in Algeria

Kenitra prison escapee captured in Algeria appears in Moroccan court

January 9, 2009 -- Convicted terrorist Hicham Alami appeared Thursday (January 8th) before a Sale court for the first time since Algerian authorities captured and extradited the fugitive to Morocco, local and international press reported. Alami, one of the nine convicted terrorists who tunnelled their way out of jail last April in the widely-publicised Kenitra prison break, was serving a life sentence for his role in the 2003 suicide attacks in Casablanca that killed 45 people. Alami is facing a new trial for "escape and repetition of an offence", MAP reported.

Also Thursday, a man arrested in Sweden and returned to Morocco was sentenced by the Sale court to two years in jail. Abderrazak Jabri admitted to links with jihadists groups in Spain and Denmark, MAP reported.

[Al-khiyal]

Constantine, le 9 janvier 2009

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Alger, le 9 janvier 2009

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Alger, le 9 janvier 2009

[Al-khiyal]

Gaza : le vice-président iranien à Alger, porteur d'un message pour Bouteflika

Vendredi 9 Janvier 2009 -- Le vice-président iranien Hossein Dahkane est arrivé vendredi à Alger pour évoquer la crise au Proche-Orient, a annoncé l'Agence APS. Le responsable iranien, porteur d'un message du président Iranien Mahmoud Ahmadinejad à son homologue algérien Abdelaziz Bouteflika, a précisé que sa visite de trois jours "était motivée par les événements qui secouent actuellement la région du Moyen-Orient".

M. Dahkane a estimé que les Palestiniens de la bande de Gaza étaient "l'objet d'une répression sioniste sans précédent et d'un terrorisme d'Etat pratiqué par le gouvernement israélien". "Cette agression et cette campagne meurtrière visent moins le mouvement Hamas que l'anéantissement pur et simple du peuple palestinien", a-t-il ajouté.