Habib Toumi

An aid convoy is setting out from Algeria towards Gaza, after the Guidance and Reform Society, the organizers of the humanitarian assistance, obtained the necessary permits from Egypt, Algeria media reported.

“The convoy will be in support of the Freedom Flotilla since its ships were the first to try to break the blockade of the Gaza Strip,” Nasereddine Chaklal, the head of the Algerian delegation, said. “The team will include doctors, journalists, religious figures, students and activists,” he said.

The convoy will buy the medical and humanitarian aid from Algeria and will transport it through the Rafah crossing.

“The Algerian team will fly to Egypt and will purchase the medical equipment and food stuff needed by the Palestinians from there,” Nasereddine said. continue reading…

Mosque imams in Algeria have devoted their Friday sermons to the condemnation of Israel as a war criminal and to the praise of Turkey as the flagship of noble solidarity with the Palestinian.

“We do pray for Turkey and its leaders to succeed in their noble mission to offer valuable assistance to the besieged Palestinians,” the imam of Uqba Ibn Nafie mosque in Constantine said. “The Arab regimes have let us down and it is thanks to the Turks that we have been able to resist the Israeli criminal onslaught, he said.

Other imams lauded the courage of the activists in confronting the Israeli forces as they raided the leading ship.

“It was an unforgivable crime against humanity and the activists were truly brave in facing the attackers. This contrasts with the stunning silence in which Arab regimes have lapsed. Their lack of reaction towards the siege of Gaza and the suffering of the Palestinians there is highly troubling,” they said. continue reading…

Algiers

More than 22,000 foreigners have been arrested in Algeria in the last four years, an average of 15 per day, security officials have said.

Forgery, use of bogus documents, counterfeit money, swindling and drugs are among the most common causes for the arrest, the police said in its annual report.

Most of those arrested were Africans, mainly from Nigeria, Senegal and Mali. However, the long list also includes Syrians, Pakistanis, Chinese and Europeans implicated mainly in unlicensed trade. Several nationals from neighbouring countries that include Tunisia, Morocco and Mauritania have also been arrested.

Most of the foreigners were deported and only around 25 per cent were tried. continue reading…

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika

Algeria’s prime minister has condemned rumour-mongers as “malicious groups seeking to undermine national unity.”

Algeria was this week gripped with rumours that President Abdelaziz Bouteflika had died from bad health and that the government did not wish to announce his death until later to avoid uncertainty hanging over the oil-exporting country’s political scene.

No statement or comment was issued by the official news agency to quell the rumours, but Bouteflika eventually appeared alongside his brothers with football icon Zineddine Zidane, the French football captain whose family is Algerian.

“Those who spread the false rumours about the president and his health condition are seeking to erode national unity and undermine the morale of our citizens,” Ahmad Ouyahia said. continue reading…

Chinese workers in Algeria - Echerouk

Egyptians top the Arab share in Algeria’s labour force, but their numbers pale in comparison with those of the Chinese who make up around half of the foreigners who are employed in Algeria, an Algerian official has said.

“The number of expatriates in Algeria has risen from 543 in 1999 to 45,000 in 2009. They are from 105 nationalities, but the Chinese make up around 45 per cent of the foreigners working in the country,” Said Adnen, head of integration services at the labour ministry said. “The total expatriate force is about 0.5 per cent of the total workforce which includes 10 million Algerians,” he told Echerouk daily. Egyptians represent 11 per cent of the foreign labour community, followed by Italians with four per cent. Americans, Canadians and Filipinos do not exceed three per cent of the total, Said Adnen said.

Slightly more than half of the expatriates work in the construction sector whereas the service sector employs 3.6 per cent of the foreigners. According to the Algerian official, 23 per cent of the foreigners have university degrees. Some 50 companies and 35,000 people from China are currently involved in one of Algeria’s most important makeovers, building 60,000 new homes, a shopping mall, hotels, an airport and a 745-mile highway among a series of high-profile projects worth $20 billion. continue reading…

Abdelaziz Belkhadem - Echerouk

The rotation of the post of Arab League secretary general among the member countries is “a perfectly sensible” move that should be adopted by the Arab states, a senior Algerian official said.

“The nature of regional and international organizations comprised of several national members is to rotate posts,” Abdelaziz Belkhadem, the personal representative of the Algerian president, said. “This is a matter of logic and common sense. All Arab states should discuss it. If there is a consensus that the Secretary General should be an Egyptian national, so be it. However, if the member states agree on rotating the post among them, then the agreement should be implemented. Either way, we should ensure that logic and law prevail over tradition,” Belkhadem told Algerian daily Echerouk on Tuesday. continue reading…

An Algerian website has emulated the US and developed a set of cards carrying pictures and names of people it thinks should be blacklisted.

In 2003, the US issued a set of playing cards to help troops identify the most-wanted members of the Saddam Hussain regime in Iraq.

The site’s list included broadcasters, singers and actors to be boycotted by Algerians for allegedly making derogatory remarks about them and insulting their country, local media have reported. continue reading…