Algeria: State of emergency to be lifted in the "very near future"

Algerian media has quoted President Abdelaziz Bouteflika as saying that the state of emergency will be lifted in the "very near future". It is yet to emerge, however, whether the emergency laws, imposed in 1992, will be repealed.

Bouteflika's announcement follows demands by opposition groups for greater freedoms. A co-organiser of the protests, Fodil Boumala, said: "We are in the middle of a meeting to work out how to respond. Personally, I hope very much that this is not just another ruse by the authorities ... I think that instead of getting to the root of the problem the authorities are just playing for time. They want to cut the ground out from the opposition by saying: 'You asked for the state of emergency to be lifted and now it is'."

After keeping out of the public eye, Bouteflika made the announcement at a meeting with government ministers in Algiers, adding that protests, currently banned in Algeria, will be permited to take place everywhere except in the country's capital. He also said state of emergency had been imposed "for the only purposes of the fight against terrorism, and it is this reason only which has justified maintaining it on a legal basis".

Bouteflika also reportedly urged the cabinet to adopt measures to promote emplouyment opportunities and encourage a more liberal media. The announcement follows growing pressure from the country's opposition groups, some of whom have been motivated by uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.

Sources: BBC News, Reuters, Wall Street Journal , AP, AFP

For more news and expert analysis about Algeria, please see Algeria Focus and Algeria Politics & Security.

Iran and Algeria in talks about free-trade agreement

Iran and Algeria are in talks about a free-trade agreement. The discussion took place when Iranian Commerce Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari met Algerian Ambassador to Tehran Soufiane Mimouni.

Ghazanfari said that Iran respects the African continent for its international commercial relations and in this regard Algeria could be an entry point for Iran into North Africa. The commerce minister said that establishing a joint bank and exchanging trade delegations are some of the ways Tehran and Algiers could boost business trade.

Mimouni said the current political relations between the two countries were good and expressed hope that commercial ties would strengthen the economy of both countires.

Source: Bernama

For more news and expert analysis about Iran, please see Iran Strategic Focus.

For more news and expert analysis about Algeria please see Algeria Focus and Algeria Politics & Security.

Ramadan coincides with pending unrest among the independent trade unions

The government is already worried about this year's Ramadan, notably the coincidence (10th September) of Aid El Fitr (the festival marking the end of Ramadan), the start of the new school year, and the likelihood of renewed unrest among the independent trade unions.

Much of the social unrest that has been sweeping the country on a more or less continuous basis over the last couple of years is related to people's living conditions, in which food prices play a major role. Hence the government's fear that the country's highly corrupt meat market will be manipulated, as is usual, to ramp up prices (and hence profits) over the Ramadan period. The government is, therefore, making efforts, without any clear signs of success, to import meat from the Sudan, India and almost anywhere else it can find it, in a bid to stop market manipulation.

The tradition of Ramadan is that it is period when prices go down, through various means including charitable provision, to assist the poorer elements of society. In Algeria, it appears that this tradition has been effectively reversed since 1992. With the ultimate corruption of the state in 1992, the regime has progressively lost whatever control it ever had over either prices or the semblance of an open market. The meat market across the country is estimated to be in the hands of some 80-90 people whose identities are not widely known but who are commonly believed to be closely linked to the country's 200 or more 'Generals', including and especially those in the DRS.

Thus, as elements within the government, fearing that a meat shortage and price manipulation could spark the unrest that the government most fears, are trying to ramp up and subsidise meat imports as a matter of urgency, the 'Generals' market', as it is known, appears bent on using the Ramadan shortage to once again cream off its unwarranted profits.

For more news and expert analysis about Algeria please Algeria Focus, Sahara Focus and Algeria Politics & Security.

© 2010 Menas Associates

Morocco sends high-level delegation to offer condolences to President Bouteflika

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's brother, Dr Mustafa Bouteflika, died on Friday, 2nd July after a long illness. His death comes one year after that of his mother. Mustafa had been the President's personal physician. He was buried at the Aknoun cemetery on Saturday 3rd July after the noon(Ethohr) prayer, amid high security.

The funeral was attended by several ambassadors and other members of the diplomatic corps, and several hundred mourners, of whom the majority were close to the President's circle. According to reports, it appears that most, if not all, government ministers attended in the wake of the leaders of the presidential coalition, namely Ahmed Ouyahia, Abdelaziz Belkhadem and Abou Djerra Soltani, and president of the APN (Parliament) Abdelaziz Ziari. Several senior members of the Armed Forces, as well as the former president of the APN Amar Saïdani and former prime minister Belaïd Abdeslam (1992-93), were also present.

Condolences were also sent from many heads of state, especially those within the region.

Morocco also sent an extremely high-level delegation, including Foreign Minister Taib Fassi Fihri and Islamic Affairs Minister Ahmed Taoufiq, to Algiers on Saturday 3rd July to convey King Mohammed VI's message of condolence.

However, as one of our sources assured us, “Such respect and politeness from Morocco only serves to hide the malevolence underneath!” Our source was referring particularly to the recent death of the senior Polisario negotiator Mahfoud Ali Biba.

Biba died shortly after news of his intended defection to Morocco. While it was generally believed that he died from a heart attack, Moroccan channels have been accusing Algeria's DRS of his murder. Our sources believe that it may take more than the King's condolences to get over this latest spat in Algerian-Moroccan relations.

For more news and expert analysis please see Algeria Focus, Sahara Focus and Algeria Politics & Security.

© 2010 Menas Associates