Algerian Army Rejects Constitutional Amendment on Foreign Military Operations

Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune during the funeral of Algeria's military chief Lieutenant general Ahmed Gaed Salah in Algiers, Algeria (Reuters)
Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune during the funeral of Algeria's military chief Lieutenant general Ahmed Gaed Salah in Algiers, Algeria (Reuters)
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Algerian Army Rejects Constitutional Amendment on Foreign Military Operations

Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune during the funeral of Algeria's military chief Lieutenant general Ahmed Gaed Salah in Algiers, Algeria (Reuters)
Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune during the funeral of Algeria's military chief Lieutenant general Ahmed Gaed Salah in Algiers, Algeria (Reuters)

The Algerian army rejected the constitutional amendment, to be submitted for a referendum in two months, that would allow the military establishment to participate in operations outside the country to restore peace.

The army command suggested replacing the term “restoring peace” with “peacekeeping,” which observers interpreted as the military leadership’s rejection to involve the army in possible battles on foreign territories.

It proposed amending the article relating to this issue so that the mission is peacekeeping, within the framework of the principles and objectives of the United Nations, the African Union, and the Arab League.

The Ministry of National Defense submitted its remarks on the amendments to the presidency, knowing that the draft constitutional reforms have been approved by the National Assembly with 256 of the 462 members present.

The military establishment stressed that the participation of army units abroad may have consequences in terms of time and capabilities, which Algeria may not be able to control.

The army command also suggested the abolition of a paragraph in the constitution's preamble that indicates “the people's cohesion with the army during the February 22, 2019 movement.”

The command based its proposal on the fact that the army is “indivisible”, carrying out its constitutional and republican tasks, and has a close relationship with the people within the framework of national solidarity and cohesion.

They also suggested adding a statement to the articles stipulating “the People's National Army, defends the vital and strategic interests of the country in all circumstances.”

Initially, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune suggested that military units be sent abroad upon his orders and the approval of two-thirds of the parliament.

According to the Algerian constitution, the President is the minister of defense and the supreme commander of the armed forces. But in practice, the body that makes the decisions regarding the army is the command of its staff and the military intelligence, the backbone of the political system.

Since its independence in 1962, Algeria banned the participation of its forces in military missions outside the borders.



Iraqi Markets a Haven for Pedlars Escaping Iran's Economic Woes

An Iranian woman sells okra at the old market in Iraq's southern city of Basra. Hussein FALEH / AFP
An Iranian woman sells okra at the old market in Iraq's southern city of Basra. Hussein FALEH / AFP
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Iraqi Markets a Haven for Pedlars Escaping Iran's Economic Woes

An Iranian woman sells okra at the old market in Iraq's southern city of Basra. Hussein FALEH / AFP
An Iranian woman sells okra at the old market in Iraq's southern city of Basra. Hussein FALEH / AFP

Every Friday, Alawi crosses the border from Iran into Iraq to sell his produce in the markets of Basra, which serve as a haven for Iranians grappling with economic sanctions.
He is just one of many Iranian pedlars who endure the arduous journey into southern Iraq through the Chalamja border crossing, AFP said.
They bring essential goods such as chicken, eggs, cooking oil and household items to sell at low prices, hoping for a profit that would be unimaginable back home due to sharp currency depreciation and soaring inflation.
"The situation is difficult due to the embargo," Alawi said, referring to Western sanctions against Iran.
Asking to withhold his surname for fear of repercussions back home, the 36-year-old said he had not given up easily on his country, and had tried to sell his produce in a market there.
"There were no customers, and the products would spoil, so we had to throw them away and end up losing" money, he told AFP.
Instead, for the past seven years, he has been travelling to Iraq where he sells okra in summer and dates in winter, earning between $30 and $50 a day –- much more than he could make at home.
"When we exchange Iraqi money" for Iranian rials, "it's a lot," the father of two said.
"We can spend it in five days or even a week," he added.
'A lifeline'
After a brief period of relief from sanctions in exchange for curbs on Iran's nuclear program, US President Donald Trump reimposed the biting measures during his first term in 2018.
Ever since, the value of the Iranian rial has plunged, fueling high inflation and unemployment.
Prices soared last month by more than 32 percent compared to March the previous year, according to official figures.
Trump announced this week that his administration would restart negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, with talks to take place in Oman on Saturday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said his country's chief aim is for US sanctions to be lifted.
In the meantime, Basra's markets continue to bustle with Iranian vendors.
At the Friday market, bags of rice were stacked on plastic crates next to bottles of detergent.
While some vendors chatted with customers, others dozed off beside their shopping bags, rubbing off the weariness of a long journey.
Hayder al-Shakeri of the London-based Chatham House think-tank's Middle East and North Africa program said informal cross-border trade "has expanded significantly over the past decade as sanctions on Iran have increasingly impacted everyday life."
Basra's proximity to Iran's Khuzestan province, where many residents speak Arabic and share cultural values with Iraq, makes it a primary target for mostly working-class Iranian vendors, Shakeri said.
Among them are women and elderly men whose livelihoods have been severely impacted by inflation, he said, calling the cross-border trade "a vital lifeline".
"Earning in more stable currencies like the Iraqi dinar or even US dollars provides a financial buffer" against the devaluated rial, he added.
Better and cheaper
Iran wields considerable political influence in Iraq and is a major trade partner for the country, the second-largest importer of non-oil Iranian goods.
Trade between the two countries amounts to tens of billions of dollars.
Milad, 17, and his mother have been selling household essentials in Basra for the past two years. Fearing a worsening situation back home, they recently rented a small shop.
In Iran, "finding work is hard, and the currency is weak," said curly-haired Milad, who declined to give his last name, adding that his cousin has been looking for a job since he graduated.
Iraqi math professor Abu Ahmad, 55, strolls to the market every Friday, looking for fresh Iranian goods.
"Their geymar is better than ours," he said, referring to the cream Iraqis have with honey for breakfast.

It is also cheaper.

"They sell it for 12,000 dinars ($8)" compared to an Iraqi price of 16,000, he added.

Shakeri from Chatham House warned that local vendors "resent the competition", and Iraqi security forces sometimes remove Iranians, though they know they will eventually return.

Umm Mansur, a 47-year-old Iranian mother of five, has had a bitter experience since she joined other pedlars six months ago.

At the border, "they insult and mistreat us," she said.

Other pedlars have described similar experiences, saying they were held up for hours at the crossing.

Umm Mansur said she is willing to overlook the mistreatment to earn four times what she would at home.

"In Iran, there is no way to make a living," she said.