Events from the year 2010 in Algeria
Incumbents President: Abdelaziz Bouteflika Prime Minister: Ahmed Ouyahia
Events January January 5: Terrorists kidnapped an Algerian engineer who worked for the Canadian firm, SNC-Lavalin.Engineer grabbed in Algeria, The Independent Zambia, January 6, 2009, internet article. January 11: Islamists ransacked and burned a Protestant church in Tizi Ouzou. El Watan reported that parishioners fled the temple after local police failed to protect the Pentecostal temple.Protestant Church Burned in Algeria, WAOW, January 12, 2010, internet article. January 12: More than 1,200 Algerians affected by Hepatitis B and C were treated in 2009. The national organization "SOS hepatitis" expected around 1,000 patients with hepatitis to receive care in 2010."Hepatitis B&C: over 1,200 patients treated in 2009 in Algeria", Ennahar Online, January 13, 2009, internet article. January 12: 7,200 Arcelor Mittal workers in Algeria went on strike led by the primary steel plant located in Annaba, eastern Algeria. The union leader was Smain Kouadria."7,200 Arcelor Mittal Workers Go on Strike in Algeria", Industry Week, January 13, 2010, internet article. January 18: Sonatrach and ALNAFT, an Algerian state agency, signed contracts with a consortium of Italian energy group, Enel, Spanish Repsol, and Franco-Belgian GDF Suez, which will explore and exploit a gas field in southeast Algeria.Signing of a gas contract in Algeria for Repsol, Enel, and Suez-GDF, Ennahar Online, January 19, 2010, internet article. January 19: A report transmitted by the Pasteur Institute to the Algerian Ministry of Health, Population, and Hospital Reform stated the results of their technical and administrative report on the H1N1 vaccine Arepanrix. Produced by Glaxo Smith Kline, and imported to Algeria, the four lots were approved by the Pasteur Institute.H1N1: The vaccine against the flu kills young people and women, Ennahar Online, January 20, 2010, internet article. January 20: Four people were killed and fourteen others injured on January 19 in a gas explosion which destroyed a portion of a building in the "Climate France" neighborhood of Algiers.Four Dead in Gas Explosion in Algiers, Ennahar Online, January 21, 2010. internet article. January 23: Mohammed Djetti, a Moroccan terrorist disclosed having built strong relationships with members of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, including Abdelmalek Droukdal. Following his arrest, he revealed to Moroccan intelligence services that he traveled to Iraq to fight Shiites there. He then went to Turkey with an Algerian friend."A Moroccan terrorist reveals his relations and his support to Droukdal", Ennahar Online, January 24, 2010, internet article. January 26: Hamer Bouazza tallied in extra time to lift Algeria by Ivory Coast in the quarterfinals of the African Nations Cup.Algeria Strikes Very Late to Eliminate Ivory Coast, The New York Times, January 27, 2010, internet article. January 27: Goldblade, a punk rock band led by John Robb (musician), became the first foreign band to play in Algeria in years. Their concert was promoted by Algeria's sole music magazine, D-Full."How Goldblade rocked the casbah", Manchester Guardian, January 28, 2010, internet article. January 28: Eight people were sentenced from twenty years to life for drug trafficking by the criminal court of Oran. The individuals were convicted in absentia in connection with the seizure of two tons of cannabis on March 18, 2008, in Béchar.Algeria: sentences from twenty years to life imprisonment for drug trafficking, Ennahar Online, January 29, 2010, internet article.
February February 1: Abu Musab Abdul Wadud (Abdelmalek Droukdal) offered training and arms to Nigerian Muslims in a message posted on a jihadist website. On August 19, 2009, Wadud offered sympathy in a message following July clashes with security forces which left many people dead in Nigeria.AQIM offers assistance to Muslims in Nigeria, Ennahar Online, February 2, 2010, internet article. February 2: The European Union wants to further talks with Algeria in June 2010, based on an agreement signed in 2005. The new negotiations will include talks regarding European investment, agriculture, fisheries, and the accession of Algeria to the World Trade Organization.The EU wants to "revive" trade talks with Algeria, Ennahar Online, February 3, 2010, internet article. February 3: Seven terrorists were killed in the Djelfa province region on February 1 by an operation of security forces in Charek. Charek is fifty miles west of the town of Djelfa. Seven Kalashnikov AK 47 rifles were recovered."Seven terrorists killed on Tuesday", Ennahar Online, February 4, 2010, internet article. February 8: Algeria has begun negotiations with Glaxo Smith Kline to reduce the order of H1N1 vaccines from twenty million to five million doses, a Ministry of Health official reports.H1N1 influenza: Algeria negotiates the cancelling of 15 million doses of vaccine, Ennahar Online, February 9, 2010, internet article. February 10: 488 Toyotas affected by defects revealed by the Japanese have been imported to Algeria. This according to information released by the Algerian Trade Ministry's Economic Control and Fraud Squad.Toyota: 488 defective vehicles in Algeria, Ennahar Online, internet article. February 17: President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has promised Algerian Minister of Youth and Sports, Hachemi Djiar, that he will support sports activities in Algeria. This includes supporting the ticket price to South Africa on the occasion of the World Cup 2010.Bouteflika promises support for the Algerian Fans in South Africa, Ennahar Online, February 16, 2010, internet article. February 22: Four terrorists claimed by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb have been released in Mali.Mali: 4 terrorists, claimed by Al-Qaeda, released, Ennahar Online, February 23, 2010, internet article. February 25: The fifth session of the Algerian - Omani Joint Committee concluded in Muscat, Oman on February 24. An Algerian- Omani business council was established. It will convene its first meeting in June 2010, coinciding with the opening of the International Fair of Algiers.
March March 2: The slaying of Algerian national police chief, Ali Tounsi, came at a time of heightening political tension between President Bouteflika and his intelligence services. Tounsi, who was head of the police for 16 years, was shot and killed in his Algiers' headquarters on March 3, by a retired army officer.Slaying of police chief heightens tension, United Press International, March 1, 2010, internet article. March 7: A rift in Algeria's political system may have grown out of a corruption probe into Sonatrach, Algeria's state-owned energy conglomerate. Sonatrach provides 20% of the gas used in Europe.Algeria ruling elite is split: Party official, The Peninsula, March 6, 2010, internet article. March 11: Algeria wants to continue to export gas to Turkey after 2014. 2014 is the date of expiration of a contract between Sonatrach and the Turkish company BOTAŞ. Chakib Khelil, Algerian minister for energy and mines, stated this desire on March 10.Algeria interested in continuing its gas exports to Turkey, Ennahar Online, March 10, 2010, internet article. March 11: In a less than amicable aftermath of soccer matches between Algeria and Egypt during qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, Egyptian football federation spokesman, Medhat Chalabi, said that Samir Zaher had received orders not to apologize to Algeria. Zaher was president of the board of directors of the Egyptian federation.Zaher was ordered not to apologize to Algeria, Ennahar Online, March 10, 2010, internet article. March 21: A Spanish engineer who was working in the desert of Ouargla has been missing since March 18 . A large search has been undertaken by a collection of security forces in the Hassi Messaoud desert in search of the engineer. March 23: In less than a year after his April 14, 2009, re-election, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is facing a political crisis. Education and health care are two important sectors of the country rife with demonstrations. Corruption is also becoming more prevalent in Algeria.Algeria between corruption and the army, The Daily Star (Lebanon), March 22, 2010, internet article. March 23: Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates arrived in Algiers on March 22 for a working visit. He pointed to Algeria's water and renewable energy sectors as attractive investment opportunities.Portuguese PM pushes investment in Algeria, Middle East Online, March 22, 2010, internet article. March 24: Christopher Ross, United Nations envoy for the Western Sahara, met with President Bouteflika as part of a regional tour intended to resolve a longstanding territorial dispute. Morocco claims hegemony in the Western Sahara.UN envoy for Western Sahara meets Algerian leader, APS News Agency, March 23, 2010, internet article. March 25: The Algerian operations of Arcelor Mittal filed a complaint with a state owned firm, alleging it unfairly missed out on a contract.Arecelor Mittal protests Algeria contract award, Reuters, March 24, 2010, internet article. March 31: Chakib Khelil, energy and mines minister, says Algeria is asking prices in excess of $7 per million British thermal units during an "unsustainable" slump in natural gas prices.Algeria wants end to natural gas price slump, Houston Chronicle, March 30, 2010, internet article.
April April 2: President Bouteflika affirmed Iran's right to use nuclear power for peaceful purposes. Bouteflika discussed this in a meeting with Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki on April 1.Algeria backs Iran's right to peaceful nuclear technology, Today.AZ, April 1, 2010, internet article. April 5: Islamist rebels ambushed and murdered seven Algerian security guards who were employed by a Turkish firm. The guards were attacked in the mountainous Kabylie region.Rebels kills seven Algerian security guards-reports, Reuters, April 4, 2010, internet article. April 6: Foreign minister Mottaki began a tour of Africa. Thus far he has visited Algeria, Gabon, and Senegal.Mottaki tours Algeria, Gabon, and Senegal, Tehran Times, April 5, 2010, internet article. April 12: Sonatrach announced discoveries of oil in the Illizi basin and the southeastern Sahara on April 11. The find was made after two wells were drilled in the perimeter Tinrhert of the Illizi basin. Since the outset of 2010 Sonatrach has reported five new hydrocarbon discoveries.Two new discoveries of oil in the Algerian Sahara, Ennahar Online, April 11, 2010, internet article. April 13: Karim Ziani says that he might leave Vfl Wolfsburg by the summer of 2010. After joining the 2009 champions of the Bundesliga, he has appeared in only ten games during the 2009–10 Bundesliga season. Ziani is under contract with Vfl Wolfsburg until 2013.Ziani Hints at Summer Exit, Football365, April 12, 2010, internet article. April 14: Orascom Telecom says that it has completed paying a bill of approximately $600 million in tax arrears to the Algerian Treasury, which came due in November 2009. Its subsidiary, OTA paid $113 million on April 13. This was the latest installment of a bill which totaled $587 million.Orascom Telcom said having paid debt to the Algerian Treasury, Ennahar Online, April 13, 2010, internet article.
May May 4: A film concerning Algeria's French colonial past sparked controversy prior to its release at the Cannes Film Festival. Outside of the Law by Rachid Boucharab, a French born filmmaker of Algerian parentage, tells of two brothers who join the struggle for Algerian independence. They had survived the massacre of Setif.Algeria Cannes film sparks colonial row in France, Ennahar Online, May 3, 2010, internet article.