Events from the year 2011 in Algeria
Incumbents President: Abdelaziz Bouteflika Prime Minister: Ahmed Ouyahia
January
January 11: Riots in towns and the countryside of Algeria have accounted for 5 deaths, 677 injuries, and more than 1,000 arrests. Food products lobbies have succeeded in reducing taxes on import transactions by 41%. The riots adverse effects include the burden on Algerian families, which are having to pay the bills for damages incurred.Algeria/Riots: Who benefits from the fire of Fitna?, Ennahar online, January 10, 2011. January 11: The law firm Shearman and Sterling has been selected to evaluate the mobile operator Djezzy, a subsidiary of Orascom. The Algerian state hopes to purchase OTA Djezzy. Nine other consulting firms and investment banks offered bids to evaluate Djezzy.Algeria chooses international business law firm to assess Djezzy, Ennahar online, January 10, 2011. January 13: Algeria has imported more than one billion dollars (800 million Euros) of brown sugar and crude oil in 2010."Algeria has imported over one billion dollars of oil and sugar", Ennahar online, January 12, 2011. January 14 Renault pledges to continue its operations in Algeria despite damages it has incurred during the recent riots. Company spokeswoman, Amel Boutamene, says the French auto manufacturer will remain because Algeria is a booming country.Renault Algeria: We're not ready to go, Ennahar online, January 13, 2011. January 31: A man from the Bordj Bou Arréridj region became the third person from Algeria to commit suicide by self-immolation. He died from his burns while another man in Algiers attempted to kill himself in the same manner.Algeria: Third death by self-immolation, Ennahar Online, January 30, 2011.
February
February 2: Air Algérie has extended attractive discounts for the elderly, students, and the unemployed to destinations in the Middle East, Europe, and the United States. The promotion lasts until the conclusion of 2011.Air Algeria: Discounts up to 50% for students and the unemployed, Ennahar Online, February 1, 2011. February 2: Algeria's inflation rate reached 3.9% in 2010 as compared with 5.7% in 2009. The source of the information is the National Statistics Office.Algeria: Lower inflation to 3.9% in 2010, February 1, 2010. February 5 An Italian female tourist, age 56, traveling alone with a guide and a driver, was kidnapped in southern Algeria. The kidnappers, numbering a dozen persons, took the woman to an unknown destination, She had earlier contacted a travel agency in Djanet, near the border with Libya.An Italian tourist kidnapped in southern Algeria, Ennahar Oniine, February 4, 2011. February 19: Algeria has remained relatively calm despite the turmoil experienced by other countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Conditions seem favorable for a revolt, however one comparable to those in Egypt and Italy, is unlikely in the near future.Amid a Sea of Upheaval Algeria is Still, The New York Times, February 18, 2011. February 7: Nineteen Algeria Post employees have been accused of embezzling more than sixteen billion centimes from the accounts of citizens and public utilities enterprises."19 Algeria Post employees divert 16 billion centimes", Ennahar Online, February 6, 2011. February 26: Approximately 50 protestors attended a banned rally in Algiers. This number was less than expected and indicated that opposition hopes in Algeria are fading.Algeria protests loses steam, Algeria News, February 26, 2011. February 26 The Algerian government ended a nineteen-year-old state of emergency which had been imposed to combat an Islamist insurgency. The sanctions were imposed initially in 1992. The ban was renewed indefinitely in 1993. The repeal made possible the expansion of civil liberties such as freedom of speech and freedom of the press.Algeria officially lifts state of emergency, CNN newswire, February 25, 2011. February 27: Around 200 riot police were employed to block an opposition effort to stage an anti-government rally in the center of Algiers.Algerian cops mobilize to block protectors, Algeria News, February 27, 2011.
March
March 17: Beji Caid Essebsi, Prime Minister of the Provisional Government of Tunisia, and special envoy of Tunisia's acting president, arrived in Algiers for a one-day visit. He came to discuss the situation in Tunisia after the country's revolt.New Tunisian PM pays one-day visit to Algeria, Algeria News, March 16, 2011. March 20: Algeria's top Salafist leader, Sheikh Abdelmalek Ramdani, contends that democracy is opposed to Islam. Ramdani resides in Saudi Arabia. He encourages Muslims to ignore all calls for change. Also, he believes that Algerians should obey their leader as long as he is a Muslim.Top Algerian Salafist: Democracy is Un-Islamic, The New Media Journal, March 19, 2011. March 21: President Bouteflika pledged to initiate political reforms in Algeria. The improvements promised to address government repression, poverty, and unemployment."Algerian president promises political reforms", Algeria News, March 20, 2011. March 22: Algeria is planning major forestry projects through a new state-owned agricultural engineering firm in 2011. The projects will be funded by an 18 billion dinar contract."Algeria plans Billion-Dinar Investments In Major Forestry Projects", Algeria News, March 21, 2011. March 23: Algeria's capability for producing drinking water has increased by three times in the past decade."Algeria's drinking water supply increases by 3 times within a decade: president", People's Daily Online, March 22, 2011. March 25: Approximately fifty people were injured, including five police officers, during soccer fans rush to purchase tickets for the CAN 2012 qualifier match between Morocco and Algeria. The tickets were being sold in Annaba, Algeria.Algeria/Morocco: Fifty Injured in Soccer Ticket Frenzy, Algeria News, March 24, 2011. March 29: Doctors who work in hospitals began an indefinite strike. They desire a generally better situation and refuse random assignments to remote regions of the country.Doctors in specialty pursue their indefinite strike, Ennahar Online, March 28, 2011. March 31: The Ministry of Education has decided to integrate all contract teachers after ten days of protests outside the headquarters of the presidency of the republic in Algiers.Contract teachers will be integrated, Ennahar Online, March 30, 2011.
April
April 17: The proposed reforms of President Bouteflika received only sparse support from independent media and the opposition. Critics stated that the Algerian leader failed to meet expectations for genuine change.Bouteflika's reforms called disappointing, Gulf Times, April 17, 2011. April 20: Frank LaRue, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, asked Algeria to guarantee the right to freedom of opinion and expression. He included a plea to decriminalize defamation.UN rights expert urges Algeria to guarantee freedom of expression, JURIST, April 19, 2011. April 23: The movie Of Gods and Men, based on the book The Monks of Tibhirine by John W. Kiser, tells the story of seven French monks who were violently murdered. Their severed heads were found on a road near Medea, Algeria, on May 30, 1996. The film is directed by Xavier Beauvois.Film Tells Poignant Story Of Monks' Deaths, Knoxville News Sentinel, April 21, 2011. April 24: Police used truncheons to beat down pro-reform activists outside parliament. Organizers noted that the police action prevented an anti-government rally. Among the protesters were hundreds of teachers who had assembled in central Algiers. Only 2 kilometers away was a protest called by the National Coordination for Democracy and Change (CNDC).Police beat down Algeria protest, news24.com (South Africa), April 23, 2011. April 26: The current protests in Algeria are similar to those in other North African nations, i.e. in their demands for democratic reforms, freedom from corruption, and civil rights. The last election, in which President Bouteflika took 90.2% of the vote, was boycotted by opposition parties which charged widespread fraud.Will Algerians get involved?, The Hindu, April 25, 2011. April 28: Two Algerian paramilitary police were killed during a bomb attack near Bordj Menaiel. The site is approximately 80 kilometers east of Algiers. The attack occurred in the mountainous Kabylie region, an area which Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb use as a base."Bomb kills two Algerian gendarmes; security source", KTXL TV Sacramento, California, April 27, 2011.
May
May 16: President Bouteflika plans a release of several thousand Islamist prisoners to help ease memories of a conflict which killed an estimated 200,000 people.Algeria to free jailed militants: Islamist leaders, Algeria News, May 15, 2011. May 19: One million Algerians will receive training in information and communications technologies. This was announced by Moussa Benhamadi, the Minister of Post and Information and Communication Technologies.One Million Algerians To Receive ICT Training, Malaysian National News Agency, May 18, 2011. May 24: Alistair Burt, English Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, commended the beginning of negotiations for political reform in Algeria.London praises Algerian reform talks, United Press International.com, May 23, 2011. International Christian Concern has discovered that Algerian authorities ordered the closing of seven Protestant churches in the province of Béjaïa, in early May.Seven Churches Forced To Close in Algerian Province, Persecution.org, May 25, 2011. May 31: Siagh Krimo, an Algerian Christian, was sentenced to five years in prison on May 25. The jail term occurred after he disclosed his faith to a neighbor. Algeria has a blasphemy law which outlaws acts which insult the prophet Mohammed, and any messengers of God.Algerian Christian sentenced to prison after sharing faith with neighbor, CatholicCulture.org., May 30, 2011.
June
June 11: 46 women suspected of prostitution were arrested in Tichi, a popular seaside resort. They were charged with incitement to debauchery. Echourouk, a daily newspaper, reported the arrests.Algeria cracks down on prostitutes at resort, In-depth Africa, June 10, 2011. June 15: The high commissioner of police in Béjaïa ordered all Christian churches closed. This edict includes all places of worship currently under construction. He threatened extreme consequences if the order is not obeyed.Algerian Christians Continue to Worship Despite Government Order, Worthy News, June 14, 2011. June 16: The Algerian parliament passed a budget law which encompassed numerous subsidies. The statute is designed to dispel growing public unrest concerning jobs and high consumer prices.Algeria passes budget law as public anger grows, In-depth Africa, June 15, 2011. June 23: Two months of talks on the subject of amending Algeria's constitution have concluded. The discussions have made a path for Algeria to institute reforms instead of experiencing the crises which other North African nations have, during a pro-democracy wave.Consultations end for Algeria's new constitution, KWQC News 6, June 22, 2011. June 26: Two months of meetings regarding how to amend Algeria's constitution have concluded. The consultations have made possible the implementation of reforms designed to prevent an uprising similar to those which have occurred in Tunisia and Libya.Consultations end for Algeria's new constitution, KWQC-TV Davenport, Iowa.
July
July 7: Algeria has been more subtle in its reaction against the Bouteflika regime when compared to the revolutions of its North African and Middle Eastern neighbors, i.e. Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt.Algeria Becalmed, Institute For War and Peace Reporting, July 6, 2011. July 17: A double suicide attack occurred in the small town of Bordj Menail, sixty kilometers east of Algiers. Two people were killed and fourteen injured.Algérie Plus, July 16, 2011.