Algerians give Chirac hero's welcome

UPI ^ | March 2, 2003 | Elizabeth Bryant

[Indy Pendance]

ALGIERS, Algeria, March 2 (UPI) -- French President Jacques Chirac received a hero's welcome as he landed in Algiers Sunday, for his first formal visit to the former French colony as head of state.

More than 1 million cheering people packed Algeria's capital to

welcome the French leader, as Chirac slowly made his way though the streets with his wife Bernadette and Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

At one point, the crowd broke through a security barrier to touch Chirac's hands, according to local news reports.

Chirac is widely regarded by Algerians as heir to the policies of former leader Gen. Charles de Gaulle, who granted Algeria independence after it fought a bloody liberation war with

France.

During an interview published Saturday by Algeria's El Watan newspaper, Chirac called for a "strong, confident and serene relations between the two countries," as a new chapter in French-Algerian relations begins.

"The Algerian war was a sad page in our common history that we cannot, and must not bury," Chirac said. "The victims, all the victims, deserve respect."

This is not the first visit to Algeria by Chirac. He served in the North African country during the war of independence and also made a quick stop in Algiers during the floods of December 2001. And previous French presidents also visited Algeria during their terms in office.

But Chirac's three-day visit is billed as the first official trip by a French head of state since Algerian independence and thus fraught with symbolic importance.

On Sunday, Chirac and Bouteflika signed a "friendship declaration," expected to evolve into a full-fledged friendship treaty similar to that between France and Germany. Under such an agreement, French and Algerian leaders would meet regularly, and their ministers would forge closer, cooperative relations.

The French President is also expected to address both houses of parliament on Monday before traveling to the northwestern city of Oran on Tuesday to meet with Algerian youths.

He returns to France later that day.

The visit isn't without controversy. Algerians, hard-pressed by the dismal economy, want France to raise its visa quotas, slashed during the country's bloody civil war of the 1990s.

Others want Chirac to highlight Algeria's spotty human rights record. France has also been criticized for launching a special, cultural "Algeria year in France" in 2003, by Algerian dissidents and others protesting the country's military-backed government.

(Reported by Elizabeth Bryant in Paris.)

[lorrainer]

More than 1 million cheering people packed Algeria's capital to see M. Chiraq surrender.

[Cicero]

I don't think this has too much to do with Chirac's recent behavior. France and Algeria go back a long way. But no doubt it will reinforce his overweening sense of amour propre.

[shrinkermd]

The Moslems have made this a religious war. The French, Germans, Belgiums and others who support the Moslems are betraying their own countries. In time, the Moslems will try to take over--witness the new political movements demanding not assimilation but local sovereignty and financial support. "Old Europe" will be unable to defend itself with "cheers."

[marron]

Algerians have fought a war against Muslim fascists who have killed approximately 250,000 people, mostly civilian innocents.

Their modus operandi is to enter a village at night, and to take their time killing everyone in the village, one throat at a time. Or to throw up a road block and kill whoever drives by, or to cordon off a piece of beach and kill every one of the weekenders on that piece of beach. Night club singers have had their throats cut right in front of their audiences. Reporters have been targeted.

The leadership of the guerrilla bands include many veterans from Afghanistan, and so could be considered an extension of Al Qaeda, although their focus has been primarily on Algeria itself and France (they have planned attacks on French soil, but have so far failed in their attempts at any dramatic 9/11 style attacks).

[Indy Pendance]

Algeria War 1954-1962

[marron]

Thanks for that link. Makes your hair stand up.

I was actually referring to the Algerian war of the nineties, in which muslim radicals initially won the election, and the army stepped in to prevent them from taking power. They then began a terror campaign that has been horrific. Many of the insurgents were veterans of the Afghan war against the Soviets, and others of Bin Ladin's camps.

[Indy Pendance]

You're welcome. Hope your read it. It's very good. Knowing their past and what they are doing now puts the whole picture in a better perspective.

[dennisw]

Froggies import a a lot of natural gas from Algeria

 

[PDF]Gaz de France, European leader in Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
... cu.m) and Korea (more than 20 billion cu.m). Algeria In 2001, Gaz de France imported
around 8.1 billion cu.m of natural gas in the form of LNG from Algeria. ...
www.gazdefrance.com/gb/presse/telechargements/ dossiers/GNLanglais.pdf - Similar pages