Zidane confirme sa venue

[Al-khiyal]

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) -Zinedine Zidane went back to his roots on Friday, wrapping up a five-day trip to Algeria by visiting the village where his parents came from.

The soccer superstar, in retirement since he led France to the World Cup final in July, has been welcomed as a national hero in Algeria. Thousands of people lined the winding road to Aguemoun, his parents' village in the mountains east of the capital Algiers.

Villagers had prepared a giant couscous in his honor. Zidane was accompanied by his parents and brother.

Zidane last visited the area when he was 14, in 1986. His trip has been a major event for this North African nation and former French colony.

Zidane was expelled from the World Cup final for head-butting Italy defender Marco Materazzi in extra time. Italy won the title on penalty kicks.

On Friday, French fans lost their bid for an official investigation into Zidane's red card. The fans said doubts remained over how one of the officials learned about the head-butt.

They claimed the fourth official's view of the incident was blocked, and that he had to rely on a video replay to make the call - a move not permitted under FIFA rules.

The fans wanted the match to be replayed.

But Judge Jean-Claude Magendie threw out the case, filed by two groups of soccer fans whose names translate as "World Cup 2006 Justice'' and "The National Action Group for Truth in the World Cup Final 2006.''

Magendie said any probe was not justified. He ordered the fans to pay the legal fees for FIFA and the French federation, who had called the fans' actions a "publicity stunt.''

Zidane goes back to his roots

[Al-khiyal]

Torrential rain in Algeria this week did little to dampen the hero's welcome for Zinedine Zidane, the legendary French footballer, as he visited his parents' birthplace for the first time in 20 years.

Adulatory cheers of "Vive Zizou" from the crowds flocking to see their country's favourite son brought some welcome relief from the bickering and jealousy that has plagued relations between France and its former NorthAfrican colony in recent years.

"He has brought happiness to his country by carrying with him life-saving rain," proclaimed El Moudjahid, Algeria's state-run newspaper. Zidane was born in Marseilles, where his parents moved in 1962 at the end of a bloody war that won Algeria's independence from France.

The spectacular head-butt by Zidane in France's World Cup final defeat against Italy this year has, if anything, only increased his popularity in Algeria. He is idolised as a symbol of hope for the many young Algerians who dream of moving to France to escape poverty.

Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Algeria's president, on Wednesday awarded Zidane the Athir medal, the country's highest honour, traditionally reserved for heads of state or heroes of the war of independence.

Mr Bouteflika said the medal was in "recognition of the respect and admiration you have shown to the Algerian people to which you belong". A charitable foundation represented by Mr Zidane raised €4.9m ($6.5m, £3.3m) for humanitarian projects in Algeria, which the footballer visited this week.

But the way the Algerian president took charge of Mr Zidane's visit, hosting a lunch for the footballer and flying him in an official helicopter, triggered accusations of political manipulation in the French press. "The Algerian head of state is marking his territory," complained Le Figaro.

Analysts say this reaction typifies the bumpy nature of Franco-Algerian relations. "These relations go in spasms," says Khadija Mohsen-Finan, a North Africa specialist at the Institut Français des Relations Internationals. "The people are very close, but often get manipulated by political elites using the other country as a natural enemy."

Talks on a planned "treaty of friendship" between French president Jacques Chirac and Mr Bouteflika collapsed amid protests over the introduction of a law in Paris calling for French schools to teach the "positive role" of colonisation, seen as an attempt to glorify its colonial past.

Diplomats say tensions are increasing as oil revenues boost Algeria's finances, giving it more confidence to diversify its commercial relations away from a historical reliance on France. Paris is particularly worried by a recent partnership between Gazprom, the Russian state-owned energy colossus, and Sonatrach, the Algerian gas group that is a big supplier to France.

"There is a lot of worrying in Paris about the Russians, the Chinese and the Germans moving in on what many French still see as their backyard," says one diplomat. A key test of this economic diversification will be the planned privatisation of the Crédit Populaire d'Algérie, the country's third-largest bank, for which many French banks are bidding against bigger foreign rivals.

Algiers has even submitted a surprising application for membership of the Commonwealth, which is based around Britain and its former colonies.

Yet Mr Zidane manages to rise above the politics. "I am a sportsman who does not do politics," he told an Algerian reporter who this week asked him why he didn't do more to support the minority Berber population in the eastern Kabylie region, where his parents came from.

"Zidane is bridge between the two countries that transcends politics, he is bigger than all these controversies," says Ms Mohsen-Finan.

Algeria claims Zidane as one of its own

[Al-khiyal]

"La communion d'esprit et de coeur que j'ai partagée avec les Algériens, durant toutes les étapes de mon séjour, a renforcé les sentiments de solidarité et d'amour que je ressens depuis toujours à l'égard de mon pays d'origine."

06.01.07 - - L'ancien capitaine de l'équipe de France de football Zinédine Zidane a exprimé les sentiments de "solidarité et d'amour" qu'il ressent "depuis toujours à l'égard de (son) pays d'origine" l'Algérie, dans un message au président Abdelaziz Bouteflika, rendu public samedi à Alger.

"La communion d'esprit et de coeur que j'ai partagée avec les Algériens, durant toutes les étapes de mon séjour, a renforcé les sentiments de solidarité et d'amour que je ressens depuis toujours à l'égard de mon pays d'origine", écrit Zidane.

L'ancien meneur de jeu des Bleus a effectué une visite de cinq jours (du 11 au 15 décembre) en Algérie, pays d'origine de ses parents, à l'invitation du président Bouteflika. Il y a été fêté comme un héros par des dizaines de milliers d'admirateurs.

Zidane a dit être "profondément marqué par le suprême honneur" que lui a fait le chef de l'Etat en lui remettant la médaille Athir de l'ordre du mérite national, équivalent de la Légion d'honneur française.

"Ce merveilleux séjour m'a conforté dans les sentiments de fierté que je porte au peuple algérien et notamment sa dynamique jeunesse", a-t-il dit.

L'ex-capitaine des Bleus a ajouté que "la chaleur et la spontanéité de l'accueil populaire" qui lui a été réservé (...) lui ont permis de "mesurer l'intensité des liens qui unissent les enfants du pays, liens si vivaces dans le coeur de mes parents".

Zidane a précisé que "la joie et la fierté" ressenties lors de ce voyage étaient aussi celles de ses parents et "un peu leur récompense".

Il a enfin a exprimé au président Bouteflika à l'occasion de l'Aïd el-Adha et du nouvel An, ses voeux "de bonne santé, de longue vie et de pleine réussite" dans ce qu'il entreprend pour l'Algérie.

Après sa visite, Zidane exprime son "sentiment d'amour" envers l'Algérie

[Al-khiyal]

Dans une lettre adressée au président de la République : Zidane exprime ses sentiments de solidarité et d’amour à l’égard de l’Algérie