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Algeria: With Bouteflika assured to win, his Prime Minister tells protesters the “ballot box will decide”
Algiers, Feb 25, 2019 - Algeria's prime minister on Monday insisted voters would determine if ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika gets a fifth term at the ballot box, after major protests against his candidacy. Tens of thousands of people on Friday took to the...
Algeria: Police use teargas to stop anti-Bouteflika protester in the capital
Algiers, Feb 22, 2019 - Clashes broke out in the Algerian capital Friday between security forces and demonstrators opposed to a bid by ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to run for a fifth term, AFP correspondents said. Police in riot gear fired tear gas and set up...
France says it killed al-Qaeda Maghreb commander Abu Hamame
Feb 22, 2019 - French armed forces have killed a top jihadist leader in an air and ground ambush in Mali, the government said on Friday, ending a years-long hunt for a man accused of masterminding the kidnapping of Westerners in the Sahel region. Djamel Okacha, an...
Algeria: Fighter jet crashes during routine exercise, two crew killed
Feb 21, 2019 - An Algerian fighter jet has crashed during an overnight training exercise, killing its two crew members, the defence ministry said on Thursday. The Russian-made Sukhoi SU-24 plane went down in an uninhabited farming area in the province of Tiaret,...
Algeria: More protests against Bouteflika’s run for fifth term ($)
The North Africa Journal - February 19, 2019: An increasing number of Algerians are pushing back against a fifth mandate for the incumbent and ailing Bouteflika. Contrary to statements made by Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia made in French TV, Bouteflika’s announcement...
Algeria: Security chiefs issue threats against opposition, get blatantly involved in politics ($)
The North Africa Journal: February 19, 2019: “Enemies from within, ungrateful and those who feed on daydreams and illusions " ... These are the few qualifiers used last week by the most powerful military chief, and Deputy-Minister of National Defense, Ahmed Gaïd...
Algeria: National security boss fired
Algiers, Feb 13, 2019 - President Abdelaziz Bouteflika sacked Algeria's police chief on Wednesday, the interior ministry said, in a move that comes weeks ahead of April elections. The ministry, in a statement carried by the APS news agency, said Bouteflika had...
Algeria: Some facts to know
Algiers, Feb 10, 2019 (AFP) - Algeria, whose president Abdelaziz Bouteflika will seek a fifth term in April, gets most of its income from oil but was hit hard by falling crude prices in 2014. Some key facts about the North African country of 42 million people. -...
Algeria: Bouteflika allegedly confirms he will run, opposition calls it “irresponsible”
Ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika declared he will seek a fifth term in April elections in a message published by state media Sunday, after he was endorsed by his party and the ruling coalition. The 81-year-old head of state uses a wheelchair and has rarely been...
Algerians brace for a ‘President for Life’
Algiers, Feb 10, 2019 - Algeria's ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is to seek a fifth term in April elections, state media announced Sunday, despite health issues that have kept him largely out of the public eye for years. The 81-year-old head of state, in power...
Algeria: Energy officials signal willingness to reduce subsidies
Minister of Energy, Mustapha Guitouni, noted the desire of his department to target the subsidy of electricity prices, stating that “subsidy support electricity, must go only to the needy.” Echoing the Minister’s comment, Sonatrach's CEO, Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour,...
Agriculture: Plague wreaks havoc on Algeria’s small ruminants ($)
Small ruminants breeders in Algeria are in distress, with the continued spread of the small ruminant plague, as the vaccine promised by the Ministry of Agriculture is slow to arrive. The Minister of Agriculture, Abdelkader Bouazghi, did promise to make the 21 million...
Algeria: Mourad Medelci, Constitutional Council Chief and ally of the President, dies of illeness
The president of the Constitutional Council of Algeria, Mourad Medelci, 76, died early on 28 January after battling illness. As head of the Constitutional Council, which monitors and supervises presidential elections, Medelci had a central role in ensuring smooth...
UN conflict resolution technique: more conferences, and another one on the Western Sahara
By Arezki Daoud - 30 January 2019: The UN does a lot of good things, including humanitarian support to people in distress. One area where the institution is ineffective is bringing feuding parties in key conflicts and get them to agree no matter what. One of the...
Urban Issues: The stray dogs and wild boars of North African cities
Opinion by Arezki Daoud - January 29, 2019: There could be as many as 15 million stray dogs roaming the streets of Egypt, and in the past four years, no less than 231 people died from rabies. Egypt does not believe in decentralized governance, which means the central...
Algeria: Leader of Islamist MSP party to run in presidential poll
Algiers, Jan 26, 2019 (AFP) - Algeria's main Islamist party, the Movement for the Society of Peace, said Saturday it has decided to take part in April's presidential election. During the night of Friday to Saturday "the consultative council decided by an overwhelming...
Maghreb: Cold and snow claim lives in central and eastern Maghreb
The North Africa Journal - 26 January 2019: A cold snap and floods killed two in Tunisia and two others in Algeria. Affected regions include Tunisia's Kef, Jendouba, Siliana and Kasserine, and Algeria's Annaba, El Tarf, Tizi Ouzou and Tipaza. Details below: Tunis, Jan...
Algeria: Courts review cases of jailed journalists
The North Africa Journal - 28 January 2019: Algerian courts have ordered the release of two journalists who were obviously arrested for the wrong reasons. Adlene Mellah was arrested on 9 December for taking part to a rally in support of a jailed singer. Mellah writes...
Algeria: TV producer Youcef Goucem dies after setting himself ablaze
Algiers, Jan 24, 2019 (AFP) - An Algerian television producer died from severe burns Thursday more than two weeks after setting himself on fire over unpaid wages, his son told AFP. Youcef Goucem, 61, doused himself in flammable liquid and lit it in the offices of...
Algeria’s presidential election: and now the big circus
The North Africa Journal - January 24, 2019: President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has convened the electoral committee last week, hence ruling out the postponement of the presidential election of 18 April 2019. Members of the opposition had tried to push a postponement, in...
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