Tebboune Discusses His Expected Visited to France with Macron

The Algerian and French presidents in Algeria in August 2022. (Algerian Presidency)
The Algerian and French presidents in Algeria in August 2022. (Algerian Presidency)
TT

Tebboune Discusses His Expected Visited to France with Macron

The Algerian and French presidents in Algeria in August 2022. (Algerian Presidency)
The Algerian and French presidents in Algeria in August 2022. (Algerian Presidency)

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has discussed with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron his expected visit to France.
The Algerian presidency said that the two presidents exchanged congratulations on the occasion of the new year.
The state visit of Tebboune to France is "still the subject of preparations", affirmed the Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Attaf, specifying that it depends on the settlement of five files.
Attaf listed the issues of memory, mobility, economic cooperation, the French nuclear tests in the Algerian Sahara, as well as the return of symbolic belongings of Emir Abdelkader - the founder of the modern Algerian state.
Ties between France and Algeria have been frosty since the statements made by Macron in October 2021 when he questioned whether Algeria had existed as a nation before French colonialism.
The fact that French intelligence evacuated Algerian activist Amira Bouraoui from Tunisia to France in 2023 also caused tension in the ties between both countries.
At the beginning of August, Tebboune declared that his state visit to France was "still maintained" but depended "on the program" of the Élysée, specifying that a "state visit has conditions" and "no "It's not a tourist visit."
In August 2022, Macron arrived in Algeria hoping to repair fractured relations with a nation whose oil and gas reserves have new strategic significance because of Europe's looming energy crisis.
Moreover, Tebboune made a phone call with his Tunisian counterpart Kais Saied.
They discussed bilateral cooperation and ways to develop it in all fields, in addition to international and regional issues of mutual interest.
On Sunday evening, the Algerian president promised as he addressed the Algerian people that the year 2024 would be full of achievements.
“We are today bidding farewell to the year 2023, which was rich in achievements and during which our beloved country has made great strides to achieve development in different fields,” said Tebboune.
On this occasion, the President of the Republic called on the Algerians to “continue the efforts, everyone at his level, to raise our country to higher ranks, so that the year 2024 will be full of achievements that will pave the way for our country to position itself among the developed countries.”
Algeria has allocated a budget that exceeds $110 billion for the year 2024. This is the biggest budget in the country’s history.



Israel’s Detention of Prominent Gazan Doctor Is Arbitrary, UN Body Says

A woman holds a sign that reads "Free Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, Free Gaza" during a protest in front of the Shin Bet offices, calling for his release, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Jan. 1, 2025. (AP)
A woman holds a sign that reads "Free Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, Free Gaza" during a protest in front of the Shin Bet offices, calling for his release, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Jan. 1, 2025. (AP)
TT

Israel’s Detention of Prominent Gazan Doctor Is Arbitrary, UN Body Says

A woman holds a sign that reads "Free Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, Free Gaza" during a protest in front of the Shin Bet offices, calling for his release, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Jan. 1, 2025. (AP)
A woman holds a sign that reads "Free Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, Free Gaza" during a protest in front of the Shin Bet offices, calling for his release, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Jan. 1, 2025. (AP)

A UN human rights body on Monday called Israel's detention of Gazan doctor Hussam Abu Safiya arbitrary and sought his immediate release as rights groups and his lawyer warned that his life was in imminent danger.

In its finding, the ‌UN Working ‌Group on Arbitrary Detention said ‌that ⁠Israel's actions contravened multiple articles ⁠of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

"The appropriate remedy would be to release Mr. Abu Safiya immediately and accord him an enforceable ⁠right to compensation and other reparations, ‌in accordance with ‌international law," it said.

It also voiced broader concerns ‌that the case, one of several ‌it has received, "may indicate a widespread or systematic practice of arbitrary detention in the country."

Earlier on Monday, the doctor's lawyer alleged that his health was ‌in grave danger and that he had been subjected to brutal ⁠abuse ⁠on a daily basis, prompting calls for his release from rights groups.

The Israel Prison Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Previously, it has rejected allegations that Abu Safiya and other doctors have been mistreated in prison.

The Israeli Supreme Court has in the past declined to comment on appeals for his release.


Morocco Says Arrested 10 People over Thwarted Terror Plots

File photo of a police officer standing near a Moroccan national flag near the main stadium during preparations for the FIFA Club World Cup in Agadir, December 10, 2013. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
File photo of a police officer standing near a Moroccan national flag near the main stadium during preparations for the FIFA Club World Cup in Agadir, December 10, 2013. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
TT

Morocco Says Arrested 10 People over Thwarted Terror Plots

File photo of a police officer standing near a Moroccan national flag near the main stadium during preparations for the FIFA Club World Cup in Agadir, December 10, 2013. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
File photo of a police officer standing near a Moroccan national flag near the main stadium during preparations for the FIFA Club World Cup in Agadir, December 10, 2013. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

Moroccan authorities said on Monday they had arrested 10 people, including a minor, involved in foiled "terrorist plots" across several cities.

The kingdom's Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ) said in a statement carried by state news agency MAP that the suspects were linked to ISIS in the Sahel region, AFP reported.

Simultaneous raids were carried out in several cities, including Casablanca and Agadir, to foil the "extremely dangerous" plots which were "in an advanced stage of preparation", the authorities said.

Searches uncovered "manuscripts detailing the manufacture of explosive devices" and recordings of a pledge of allegiance to IS, the statement said.

In Inezgane, near Agadir, police also discovered a vehicle with its "fuel tank modified to run on butane gas", meant for a "suicide bombing or a car-ramming attack", the statement added.


Algeria's FLN Gets Most Seats in Parliament with Record Low Turnout

The FLN secured 90 of the parliament's 407 seats in the July 2 poll (File photo/AFP)
The FLN secured 90 of the parliament's 407 seats in the July 2 poll (File photo/AFP)
TT

Algeria's FLN Gets Most Seats in Parliament with Record Low Turnout

The FLN secured 90 of the parliament's 407 seats in the July 2 poll (File photo/AFP)
The FLN secured 90 of the parliament's 407 seats in the July 2 poll (File photo/AFP)

Algeria's legislative elections saw a record low turnout, with just 21 percent of the 25-million electorate casting ballots, as the incumbent National Liberation Front (FLN) won the most seats, the election board said on Monday, AFP reportd.

The FLN secured 90 of the parliament's 407 seats in the July 2 poll, which was marred by public apathy and controversy over the government's disqualification of roughly a third of would-be candidates.