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Algeria: Anger after pregnant doctor dies from Covid-19. She was denied maternity leave
Algiers, May 17, 2020 - The death of a pregnant Algerian doctor from the COVID-19 disease after she was denied maternity leave has sparked an uproar and prompted the dismissal Sunday of a hospital director. Health Minister Abderrahman Benbouzid sacked the director of...
Algeria: Despite repression, Algeria braces for resumption of anti-regime protests ($)
Algiers, May 18, 2020 - A day after his release from prison, a leading figure in Algeria's anti-government protests called Monday for the "Hirak" movement to resume after the coronavirus pandemic. "My freedom will only be complete when other detainees are released,"...
Algerian regime makes minor gesture toward Hirak, releases two rights activists
Algiers, May 18, 2020 - A leading figure in Algeria's "Hirak" anti-government protest movement has been released from jail after a court late Sunday cut his prison sentence, one of his lawyers told AFP. Abdelouahab Fersaoui, who heads the civic group Youth Action...
Algeria: Kia to suspend car assembly in Algeria
Algiers, May 15, 2020 - South Korean carmaker Kia will shut down its assembly line in Algeria from Sunday due to supply chain disruptions after authorities imposed a ban on the import of spare parts. "Work will be interrupted from May 17" at the factory in the town of...
Algeria and Morocco bickering again
Algiers, May 14, 2020 - Algeria said Thursday it had summoned Morocco's ambassador after a video circulating on social media appeared to show a Moroccan diplomat calling Algeria an "enemy" country. Relations between the North African countries have long been tense,...
Algeria: Sonatrach implicated in tainted fuel export to Lebanon
Beirut, May 13, 2020 - A Lebanese prosecutor on Wednesday pressed charges against 12 people including government officials over a delivery of suspect fuel through an Algerian oil company, state media said. The "tainted fuel" case made headlines in March when Lebanon...
Algeria: Regime launches frontal assault on pro-democracy movement
By Philippe Agret - The Algerian regime is exploiting coronavirus to defeat a protest movement that has shaken it to its core over the past year, analysts say. Despite protesters deciding to suspend their weekly gatherings since the start of the public health crisis,...
Maghreb: A Ramadan unlike no other
Algiers, May 7, 2020 (By Abdelhafid Daamache) - North Africans say they are missing the taste of Ramadan, as coronavirus restrictions deprive them of traditional mealtime gatherings, evening outings and beloved sweets during the Muslim holy month. "It's not the usual...
Algeria: Government braces for intensification of Hirak after pandemic ($)
Three separate security reports commissioned by the presidency and reviewed by President Tebboune have all warned of the pent-up anger in the population that could make the post-pandemic period an extremely dangerous era. The growing anger among the population is...
Algeria announces deeper spending cuts but says minimum wage up a bit
The Algerian government decided Sunday to reduce the state budget by half due to a financial crisis caused by the global collapse in oil prices and worldwide coronavirus lockdowns. The government has decided to reduce the budget by "50 percent" for this year,...
Algerian authorities under international pressure to stop harassing journalists ($)
April 30, 2020 - Several rights groups including Amnesty International urged Algerian authorities Thursday to free imprisoned journalist Khaled Drareni and end the "targeted harassment of independent media". Drareni, the founder of the Casbah Tribune website, is a...
WHO advises MENA region against loosening confinement measures
Cairo, April 28, 2020 - The World Health Organization warned Tuesday of the impact coronavirus could have in Middle Eastern conflict zones and urged other countries in the region against loosening confinement measures. "This fight has become even more challenging with...
Week-in-review podcast: Lockdowns, curfews and government abuse
This is a retrospect on North Africa and the Sahel region, for the week ending 24 April. The review, which focuses on the latest on Covid-19 in the Maghreb, Egypt and the Sahel, is presented by MEA Risk analyst Arezki Daoud. The transcripted text is below. You can...
The Algerian regime’s weapon against pro-democracy activists: pre-trial detentions
Algiers, April 23, 2020 -By Amal Belalloufi: Dozens of Algerians linked to the country's anti-government protest movement remain "forgotten" in pre-trial detention during the coronavirus crisis, with little or no legal support. Zinedine Hanane, 32, was arrested on...
Government of Algeria attacks Internet news sites
April 20, 2020 - Algerian authorities have blocked a third online news website that covered the anti-government "Hirak" protest movement, stirring condemnation Monday from media watchdog Reporters Without Borders. RSF also voiced concern that a draft law on "fake...
Algerian diplomat Lamamra withdraw from UN Libya envoy consideration
Algerian former foreign minister Ramtane Lamamra on Thursday ruled himself out of becoming the next UN envoy to Libya, after diplomats said Washington opposed his nomination. In a statement to the Algerian press, Lamamra said he had been invited last month by UN...
Algeria: Prisoners to make face masks
Algiers, April 17, 2020 - Inmates at 30 Algerian prisons are being mobilised to make personal protective equipment to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, official news agency APS reported. Authorities will "open sewing workshops for the production of 200,000...
Algeria’s political police continue to arrest civilians for their opinions
The fall of the notorious General Wassini Bouazza, former head of an equally notorious secret police, has done nothing to slow the level of repression suffered by the Algeria people in the hands of the generals in charge. Repression and judicial harassment against...
Algeria: Clan warfare inside military command rages, turmoil in intel agencies (s)
One of the most hated Generals in the Algerian military high command, General Bouazza Wassini, has been dismissed and reported to be on the run. Wassini, a man with no experience in intelligence but with a massive ego and ambitions, headed the Internal Security...
Algeria: Oil prices, virus, instability put Algeria on edge
Algiers, April 12, 2020 (By Amal Belalloufi with Philippe Agret in Tunis) - Algeria faces economic and social turmoil if crude prices continue to collapse, experts have warned, with the oil-dependent country reeling from a year of popular protests, political turmoil...
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