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After being yanked from a bus just outside of her hometown in Algeria, 35-year-old Habiba Kouider was searched and questioned about her faith. When police found several Bibles and books about Christianity, they detained the Christian convert for 24 hours and brought her before a state prosecutor. The official gave her two options: Convert back to Islam or face charges. Kouider now faces three years in prison for "practicing non-Muslim religious rites without a license." She is one among dozens of believers arrested this year on religious grounds. Many Christians fear ominous times are ahead for Christians in Algeria, a...

France has signed a far-reaching nuclear agreement with its former colony Algeria. President Nicolas Sarkozy is committed to improving co-operation between Mediterranean countries and the European Union. However, not everyone is happy about Paris' attempts to find favour with Algeria. 'A memorandum of trust' is how French Prime Minister François Fillon described the agreement that he signed last weekend. The French prime minister was in Algiers to persuade Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to take part in the Mediterranean Union, a project that is dear to President Sarkozy's heart. The organisation aims to boost ties between the European Union and nations...

ALGIERS — First, Abdel Malek Outas’s teachers taught him to write math equations in Arabic, and embrace Islam and the Arab world. Then they told him to write in Latin letters that are no longer branded unpatriotic, and open his mind to the West. Malek is 19, and he is confused. “When we were in middle school we studied only in Arabic,” he said. “When we went to high school, they changed the program, and a lot is in French. Sometimes, we don’t even understand what we are writing.” The confusion has bled off the pages of his math book...

Algeria Muslim body slams Christian evangelistsSun 1 Jun 2008, 7:22 GMTALGIERS (Reuters) - Algeria hit back on Saturday at foreign accusations minority Christians are harassed, saying Protestant evangelicals were secretly trying to divide Algerians to colonise the mainly Muslim north African country.http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN130142.html   The Rising Threat of Revolutionary Islam in Algeria A radical Islamic victory in Algeria would pose significant long-term threats to US interests in North Africa, the Middle East, and the Muslim world ...http://www.heritage.org/Research/Africa/BG1060.cfm   2 bombings near Algerian capital wound 6 peopleThe Associated Press - Jun 4, 2008Algeria's Islamic militants have mounted increasing attacks over the past...

The Hunt for American al Qaeda The United States is turning up the heat in the hunt for the California boy turned al Qaeda operative, Adam Gadahn, who has been charged with treason and is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan. If caught and convicted, Gadahn could face the death penalty. The State Department along with the Department of Diplomatic Security announced the beginning of a publicity campaign in Afghanistan urging locals to provide any information on Gadahn's whereabouts, with a reward if the information leads to his capture. Radio advertisements with information concerning the $1 million reward have...

The mountains of northern Algeria have long sheltered outlaws, but it's not just rugged terrain that draws Al-Qaeda to ravines and forests. The local Berber people's alienation from the Arab-dominated government of the OPEC member makes the steep slopes of Kabylie a congenial base for the toughest rebel force in north Africa. That reality means blind eyes are sometimes turned to the guerrilla outsiders' presence by a population that shares little of their religious fundamentalist ideology. Diplomats say the resulting denial of intelligence to the state poses a transnational security threat that extends from Kabylie, just 90 minutes' drive east...

Algiers, Jun 4, 2008 / 09:26 pm (CNA).- Four Algerian citizens who converted to Christianity have been condemned to prison and heavy fines, while two others were set free after renouncing their conversion.  According to the AFP, the defense lawyer said the four were charged with “illegally practicing a non-Muslim faith.”Attorney Khelloudja Khalfoun said one of the converts was sentenced to six months in prison and fined $3,087, while the other three were sentenced to two months in prison and fined $1,544 each.  The four converts, who were condemned by a correctional court in Tiaret, refused to deny their...

Christian churches in Algeria are under massive attack. Within the last six months, Algerian authorities have closed half of the Protestant churches in the country. If the trend continues, the Algerian Protestant church will be non-existent by the end of 2008. Algerian officials have closed 26 Algerian churches by either written order or verbal warning since November 2007. Ranging in size from several dozen to more than 1,000 members, 32 congregations in Algeria belong to the Protestant Church of Algeria, while another 20 small fellowships exist independently. Algeria, a country of 33 million in northern Africa, is home to at...

Two years after Algeria enacted a troubling religious law, Christians in the North African nation are facing an unprecedented clampdown, with churches being closed, suspected missionaries put on trial, and Muslim figures warning of devious plans to lure Algerians away from Islam. The 2006 law, known as Ordinance 06-03, outlaws anything that "incites, constrains, or utilizes means of seduction" to influence a Muslim to convert to another religion. It also bans the publication, distribution or storing of printed material that has the goal of "shaking the faith" of a Muslim. Punishments include imprisonment of up to five years and fines...

ALGER, Algeria, MAY 26, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI appointed Father Ghaleb Moussa Abdalla Bader of the clergy of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Algeria.Archbishop-designate Bader, 56, succeeds Archbishop Henri Teissier, 78.The new archbishop brings with him ample experience in interreligious dialogue with Islam. Ghaleb Moussa Abdalla Bader was born in 1951 in Jordan. He was ordained in 1975.In 1979, he completed a first doctorate in civil law at the University of Damascus and in the 1980s he completed two more doctorates in Rome, one in philosophy and one in canon law, at the Pontifical Lateran...

U.S. Wary Of Small Boat Terrorism As boating season approaches, the Bush administration wants to enlist America's 80 million recreational boaters to help reduce the chances that a small boat could deliver a nuclear or radiological bomb somewhere along the 95,000 miles of U.S. coastline and inland waterways. According to an April 23 intelligence assessment obtained by The Associated Press, "The use of a small boat as a weapon is likely to remain al Qaeda's weapon of choice in the maritime environment, given its ease in arming and deploying, low cost, and record of success." While the United States...

BERIANE, Algeria (Reuters) - Hundreds of Algerian security forces were deployed in the town of Beriane on Sunday to try to end three nights of clashes between Arabs and minority Berbers, the worst urban unrest in the OPEC producer in months. Residents said two people, including a 67-year-old, man have been killed and dozens made homeless since the disturbances involving rival gangs of hooded young men broke out in this north Saharan town of about 35,000 on Thursday evening. "They burn our houses, steal and kill. The hatred has made them blind," Slimane Baaziz, 51, a member of the Mozabite...

Algerian immigrants who drown in the Mediterranean Sea on their way to Europe should be considered 'martyrs', according to a prominent imam. According to the local daily, Ennahar, Sheikh Shamsedin Bourubi issued a fatwa, or religious edict, on Monday saying that the Muslim faithful should pray for their souls. "The immigrants who leave Algeria by sea in a bid to reach Europe and die by drowning in the Mediterannean are 'martyrs' and are not committing suicide," he said. "So it is legal to conduct funeral prayers for their souls." The Bourubi's fatwa appears to contradict a preceding fatwa issued by...

COPENHAGEN, Denmark - The Danish Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that it has evacuated its staff from embassies in Algeria and Afghanistan because of threats after newspapers reprinted a cartoon depicting the Muslim prophet Muhammad. Embassy employees have been moved to secret locations in both countries' capitals but continue to work, Foreign Ministry spokesman Erik Laursen said. The announcement comes after Danish intelligence officials warned of an "aggravated" terror threat against Denmark since newspapers in the country in February of a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad. The warning specifically singled out North Africa, the Middle East, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The threat...

An array of Russian officials and top-managers of the largest corporations will accompany Vladimir Putin. Moscow intends to make Tripoli its strategic ally in Northern Africa, and for the sake of it is ready to relieve Libya's $4.6 bln debt in exchange for concluding arms and energy contracts. But Russia's new attempt to consolidate its grip in this crucial region can be in vain... Similar situations have been common in the past years: Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi invited President Putin to Libya right after his victory in the presidential election of 2000, but visits have been suspended. The previous one...

The Tassili n’Ajjer of Southern Algiers is described as the “largest storehouse of rock paintings in the world”. But could it also be the origins of the ancient Egypt culture ? In January 2003, I made enquiries to visit the Hoggar Mountains and the Tassili n’Ajjer, one of the most enchanting mountain ranges on this planet. The two geographically close but nevertheless quite separate landscapes are located in the Sahara desert in southeast Algeria. I was told that if I could pack my bags immediately (literally), I could join the three weeks’ trip. Unfortunately, I could not, but planned to...

Algiers, 18 March (AKI) - Members of the al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb militant group in Algeria have reportedly attacked members of a moderate organisation opposed to its terrorist activities. A report on Tuesday in the Algerian newspaper el-Khabar said an al-Qaeda militant carried out a raid against a mosque in the Algerian province of al-Wadi on Sunday night and killed two men while they prayed. According to the report, eyewitnesses said masked men entered the mosque as evening prayers were being held forcing everyone to fall to the ground. The armed militants called for the two men, Harun Ahmad,...

Petraeus: Al Qaida Trying to 'Come Back In' U.S. military officials said there will be no significant reduction in coalition troops in the Baghdad area as part of an effort to stop the Al Qaida offensive in northern Iraq. They said Al Qaida was trying to reenter Baghdad and reverse its losses in 2007. "Al Qaida is trying to come back in," U.S. military commander Gen. David Petraeus said. "We can feel it and see it, and what we're trying to do is rip out any roots before they can get deeply into the ground." Read More Militants Assert...

Is the U.S. Failing in Afghanistan? It was malice in wonderland at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday as Bush Administration envoys insisted things are getting better in Afghanistan, while angry lawmakers from both parties cited facts and figures showing just the opposite. Even the senior Republican on the panel, Senator Richard Lugar, found the Administration's claims wanting. "I'm not sure that we have a plan for Afghanistan," he said. Long seen as the "forgotten war" eclipsed by Iraq in U.S. priorities, Afghanistan is in the Washington spotlight this week with the release of three independent reports concluding...

A Catholic priest in Algeria has been sentenced to a year in prison for praying with Christians in Cameroon. Middle East Concern reports that Father Pierre Wallez is the first victim of legislation approved in March 2006, prohibiting anyone from leading a religious ceremony anywhere without permission from the government in Algeria. Algerian Archbishop Henri Teissier told Vatican Radio: "the most surprising thing is that the conviction was issued simply because the priest visited a group of Christians in Cameroon. He had not celebrated Mass, but was only joining them in a prayer. It was December 29, a little...

Still in Control Pervez Musharraf was calm, confident and—despite a flurry of rumors—not about to announce his resignation. Instead, the Pakistani president's "concession" to his troubled nation was an announcement that he would allow Britain's Scotland Yard to help local law enforcement agencies with their investigation into last week's assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. Speaking in a nationally televised address two hours after Pakistan's election commission announced the postponement of the ballot to Feb. 18, six weeks later than had been scheduled, Musharraf was notably deferential in his remarks about Bhutto, often invoking her "martyrdom" and extolling...

Algiers, 31 Dec. (AKI) - Lawmakers from the Algerian Islamic political party of al-Nahda have asked the government to intervene to slow down "the activities of Christian missionaries in the country". Algerian MP Muhammad Hudeibi was quoted as saying this in the local el-Khabar newspaper. "We want the government to cut down this type of activity because the expansion of evangelisation in Algeria has become an important problem and is not marginal as some think it is," said Hudeibi. For some years, the local media in Algeria have reported on the activities of a number of missionaries, particularly those from...

Sacked for sheep sex prank   Baa-baric ... sheep  By THOMAS WHITAKER Published: Today   TWO British oil workers have been sacked after simulating sex with sheep due to be slaughtered for a Muslim festival. The animals were being killed for 30 foreign workers to celebrate Eid Al Adhha in the Algerian oil town Hassi Messaoud. The men, who have not been named, were reported by stunned restaurant workers and guards — then sacked by their employer, US industrial giant Schlumberger. They were accused of “sheep violation”. A spokesman for the company — which provides services to oil firms...

Hypocrisy, Thy Name is “Arab”Wednesday, December 19th, 2007Arabs have been unanimous in rejecting the idea of Israel being a “Jewish state.” Their reasons are that, by definition, a Jewish state would be discriminatory against Arabs and Muslims.If you define “Jewish” in purely religious terms, that would mean that any state that defines itself as “Islamic” is, by definition, equally guilty of this discrimination. If you define “Jewish” in ethnic or national terms, then any state that defines itself as “Arab” would be equally guilty of the racism that Israel is being accused of. Time to check out the official hypocrisy...

A poll by satellite TV Al Jazeera on the attacks in Algiers on December 11 has aroused bitter controversy in the Algerian media. "Are you in favour of Al Qaedàs attacks in Algeria?". This is the "scandalous question", daily Liberte writes, proposed by Qatar's channel Al Jazeera, "which makes of the terrorist apology one of the main editorial lines". The daily adds that more serious are the results: a total 54% of the TV audience has answered to be in favour of the double suicide bomb attack in Algiers against the seat of the UN and the Constitutional Court, "...

Algeria: Al-Qaeda uses elderly terrorists in change of tactics Algiers, 13 Dec. (AKI) – (By Hamza Boccolini) - In a major strategic change, the Algerian arm of Al-Qaeda appears to be using terrorists older than 60 to carry out its attacks. That is the finding to have emerged from early analysis of the dual bombings that struck Algiers on Tuesday. Arab media and analysts have spoken of the "return of the elderly" to describe the strategic change by Al-Qaeda's Branch in the Islamic Maghreb (BAQMI) that claimed responsibility for the bombings in the Algerian capital. The Algerian government said...

In a major strategic change, the Algerian arm of Al-Qaeda appears to be using terrorists older than 60 to carry out its attacks. That is the finding to have emerged from early analysis of the dual bombings that struck Algiers on Tuesday. Arab media and analysts have spoken of the "return of the elderly" to describe the strategic change by Al-Qaeda's Branch in the Islamic Maghreb (BAQMI) that claimed responsibility for the bombings in the Algerian capital. The Algerian government said that at least 26 people were killed and more than 170 wounded by the two bombs. However hospital sources...

Two car bombs struck central Algiers yesterday, killing up to 67 people, destroying United Nations offices and targeting a bus full of law students outside the Supreme Court in a coordinated strike blamed on al-Qaeda. The destruction raised the spectre of a return to the civil war that ravaged the North African country in the 1990s. At least two of the dead were foreigners — a Senegalese and a Dane working for the UN. As rescuers pulled out six people alive from the rubble, the UN said that at least 11 of its employees had died. More than 170 people...

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) - Two truck bombs set off in quick succession sheared off the fronts of U.N. offices and a government building in Algeria's capital Tuesday, killing at least 26 people and wounding nearly 200 in an attack claimed by an affiliate of al-Qaida. Al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa, in a posting on a militant Web site, called the U.N. offices "the headquarters of the international infidels' den." A U.N. official said at least 11 of its employees died. The bombs exploded 10 minutes apart around 9:30 a.m., devastating the U.N. refugee agency and other U.N. offices along a...

Attack in Algiers: A Warning to Europe ... Death and destruction revisited the Algerian capital of Algiers Tuesday morning when a pair of powerful car bombs exploded, and claimed what early estimates placed as 62 lives. Though no claims of responsibility have been made, security experts say there's little doubt the attack was the work of al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), a group that formed an alliance with Osama bin Laden's global jihad in 2006. Officials say Tuesday's spectacular strike increases the risk that AQIM is ramping up its violent struggle to bring down the Algerian government. And as the...

At least 62 people have died in two bomb blasts in the Algerian capital, Algiers, officials have said. The first explosion happened in the Ben Akoun district, near the supreme constitutional court. This was followed shortly afterwards by a second blast at the United Nations office in the Hydra neighborhood. A UN worker caught up in the Hydra attack told the BBC that a large part of the building was destroyed and it was feared people were trapped inside........

CNN) -- Two car bombs ripped through the Algerian capital Tuesday, reportedly killing 47 people -- including 10 U.N. workers -- in what appeared to be targeted attacks on government and United Nations buildings. The other attack tore the front off the U.N headquarters in the city. A U.N. spokesman told the Associated Press that 10 staff members were killed one of the bombings. Algeria's Minister of State Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni said the explosions were the result of two cars full of explosives, according to the state news agency. So far no group has admitted responsibility for Tuesday's blasts. The...

via translation - Strong explosion in the Supreme Court of Algiers ALGIERS-A powerful explosion, the nature of which is not yet known, occurred Tuesday at 8:45 GMT in Algiers near the Supreme Court of Algeria, Ben Aknoun, on the heights above the town, noted journalists of AFP . Many ambulances, sirens hurlantes, were directed at the scene of the explosion which was climbing a thick column of black smoke. A security cordon was immediately deployed and the road leading to the area, including housing the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Council, has been closed to traffic.

WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court on Thursday zeroed in on the problem of Guantanamo Bay in reverse — detainees in U.S. custody who want out but don't want to be sent home. Ahmed Belbacha isn't happy to be at Guantanamo Bay, but neither is he happy about the alternative he says was chosen for him by the U.S. government, Algeria, where Belbacha says he'll be tortured. Belbacha's lawyer, David Remes, asked a three-judge panel to block any plans the Bush administration might have for moving his client into Algerian custody until the Supreme Court decides a case covering all...

Paris - Less than a week before the visit of French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Algeria, an Algerian minister said that Sarkozy owed his electoral victory to Israel and "the Jewish lobby," the French daily Le Figaro reported Wednesday. The comments by Minister for War Veterans Mohammed Cherif Abbes were made in an interview published earlier this week in the popular Algerian daily El Khabar. "You know the origins of the French president and those who brought him to power," Cherif Abbes said, referring to the fact that Sarkozy's mother is of Greek Sephardic Jewish descent. "Did you know that...

The Algerian army, boosting attacks on al Qaeda-aligned armed groups, killed 15 activists and captured seven in the past two days near the Tunisian border, local newspapers reported on Saturday. They also seized large quantities of ammunition and destroyed several hideouts in the operation in Tebessa province, 630 km east of the capital Algiers, the government-owned El Moudjahid said, citing a security source. One army officer died in the raid, which was carried out by a combined force of the army, police and municipal guards, based on tips provided by a militant who had surrendered, the independent newspaper Liberte conveyed....

ALGIERS (Reuters) - The deputy chief of al Qaeda's North Africa wing, believed to be the group's operational leader, was killed along with two other rebels in a gun battle with Algerian troops, local newspapers said on Tuesday. Hareg Zoheir, also known as Sofiane Abu Fasila, was said to be the second-in-command of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and suspected of being behind planning most of the suicide bombings in Algeria in the recent months. He was shot dead on Sunday at a check point in the eastern region of Tzizi Ouzou, the country's leading dailies reported. "Sofiane is...

The Algerian situation is an example of the complexities and difficulties of nuclear weapons intelligence. Questions about the capabilities and intentions of potential members of the nuclear club, whose activities are invariably surrounded by tight secrecy, have characteristically shaped the policy debate on nuclear proliferation. Declassified U.S. government documents on pending controversies, e.g., over Iran and North Korea, are practically impossible to obtain, even on the earliest stages of the controversy. Thus, recently declassified documents from 1991 on the then-secret debate over Algeria's nuclear ambitions provide a rare glimpse of an early post-Cold War test of the nuclear nonproliferation regime.

ALGIERS - Al-Qaeda's branch in North Africa claimed responsibility Friday for a suicide bombing in Algeria that wounded two French people and one Italian, hours after it had threatened French targets in the region. According to Dubai-based Al-Arabiya news channel, the group claimed to have "killed three foreigners", although Algerian security sources said only that the three were injured alongside six Algerians, five of them police. The attack near Lakhdaria, about 75 kilometers (50 miles) southeast of Algiers, where the group has claimed previous strikes, came just hours after Al-Qaeda called for an offensive against French targets. France said it...

Newly declassified U.S. government documents confirm the U.S. government suspected China was helping Algeria build a secret facility in 1991 for developing nuclear weapons. The 15-megawatt reactor is now a research center about 80 miles south of the Algerian capital of Algiers, and has been brought under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) controls. However, the once-classified reports show the joint Chinese-Algerian nuclear project was kept secret from the 1980s until its existence was first disclosed by The Washington Times on April 11, 1991. The disclosure set off international protests and diplomatic pressure involving eight nations, and a major interagency effort...

Members of al-Qaeda's North Africa wing say they carried out two suicide attacks that have killed at least 50 people in Algeria in the past two days. The group, which calls itself al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, made the claim in an internet statement. In the latest attack, at least 30 people died on Saturday when a truck packed with explosives drove into a naval barracks in the port of Dellys. Authorities in Algeria have called for rallies against violence on Sunday. The UN and EU condemned the bombings. The chairman of the UN Security Council, Jean-Maurice Ripert, called Saturday's...

A booby-trapped car went off at an army barracks Saturday, killing at least 28 people and wounding many more, security services said, according to the AP. The bomb exploded in the town of Dellys, about 30 miles from Algiers, they said. It went off as the local coast guard was taking part in the morning flag-raising ceremony. All the victims were coast guard officials, who are part of Algeria's armed forces, hospital officials said. The latest blast comes just two days after 20 people died in a suicide bomb attack in Batna. That bomb exploded in a crowd awaiting a...

At least 28 people have been killed and some 60 injured in a car bomb attack on an Algerian naval barracks in Dellys, 100km (62 miles) east of Algiers. It comes just two days after a suicide bomb attack left at least 20 people dead, including the bomber, in Batna. That bomb exploded in a crowd awaiting a visit to the town by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. He later blamed Islamic militants for the attack, but there has been no claim of responsibility for either attack. 'Islamic militants' Appearing on television soon after the Batna incident, Mr Bouteflika said Islamic militants...

Twelve people died and 23 wounded in Algeria Thursday in a suicide bombing apparently aimed at President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, local security sources said. The bomber was part of the crowd awaiting a visit by the head of state in the eastern city of Batna. According to AFP, witnesses said he was discovered by members of the crowd and let off the explosives he was carrying before the president arrived. Bouteflika was informed of the attack and went to the hospital where the victims were being treated.

WASHINGTON, (AP) -- The Supreme Court said Friday it would not prevent the U.S. from transferring an Algerian army veteran from Guantanamo Bay to his home country. Ahmed Bel Bacha, who has been held at Guantanamo for five years, has argued he would be tortured if turned over to Algerian officials. One of at least two dozen detainees who have expressed fear of abuse if sent home, Bel Bacha asked the court not to let the U.S. send him back to Algeria. In a one-sentence order, the Supreme Court denied his request.

Is the United States out of the intervention business for a while? With two difficult wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a divided public, the conventional answer is that it will be a long time before any American president, Democrat or Republican, again dispatches troops into conflict overseas. As usual, though, the conventional wisdom is almost certainly wrong. Throughout its history, America has frequently used force on behalf of principles and tangible interests, and that is not likely to change. Despite the problems and setbacks in Iraq and Afghanistan, America remains the world's dominant military power, spends half a trillion...

ALGIERS, Algeria (Reuters) -- Algerian security forces have killed the mastermind of suicide bombings including a triple attack in Algiers in April that claimed 33 lives, a government-run newspaper reported on Thursday. Rachid Sid Ali, a military adviser to the al Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb, was killed on July 30 in the troubled Kabylie region east of Algiers, El Moudjahid said. He was killed along with his aide Haroun El Achaachi "thanks to the help of the local population of Iboudranene" village near Kabylie's main town of Tizi Ouzou, the daily added, citing a security source. Attacks plotted...

.."surrendered after disagreements with other leaders in the organization."

An inmate of Guantanamo Bay who spends 22 hours each day in an isolation cell is fighting for the right to stay in the notorious internment camp. Ahmed Belbacha fears that he will be tortured or killed if the United States goes ahead with plans to return him to his native Algeria. The London Times reported that Belbacha, who lived in Britain for three years, has filed an emergency motion at the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., asking for his transfer out of Guantanamo to be halted. He was cleared for release from Camp Delta in February and...