Algerian Journalist Jailed for a Year

Algerians holding flags demonstrate against the authorities. File photo
Algerians holding flags demonstrate against the authorities. File photo
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Algerian Journalist Jailed for a Year

Algerians holding flags demonstrate against the authorities. File photo
Algerians holding flags demonstrate against the authorities. File photo

Algerian journalist and whistle-blower Noureddine Tounsi was sentenced Wednesday to a year in prison, one of his lawyers told AFP.

Detained since September, Tounsi had reported on social media on alleged wrongdoings at the port of Oran, in the country’s northwest.

Tounsi “was sentenced to a year behind bars by the court” in Oran, his lawyer Farid Khemisti wrote on Facebook.

Charges against him included “insulting the president of the republic” and “invasion of privacy,” local media reported.

However, he was acquitted of the charge of “communicating with foreign entities,” which would have led to his referral to a criminal court, the media added.

Meanwhile, Rabah Kareche, a correspondent for French-language newspaper Liberte in Tamanrasset, in Algeria’s far south, was placed in provisional detention for allegedly spreading false information “harmful to public security.”

His detention came after he published an article on a Tuareg protest movement in the area.

Liberte slammed what it called “false accusations that thinly veil the desire to silence the journalist and prevent him from carrying out his work objectively.”

Reporters Without Borders ranked Algeria 146 out of 180 countries and territories in its 2021 World Press Freedom Index.

According to Algerian Detainees, a journalist-run website, 66 prisoners of conscience are currently incarcerated in the country, some in connection with the Hirak movement.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, for its part, urged the Algerian authorities to free Kareche and drop their investigation.



‘Oil-for-Salaries’ Deal Ends Dispute Between Baghdad and Erbil

Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani stressed the need to put an end to attacks on the region, particularly targeting oil fields (Reuters)
Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani stressed the need to put an end to attacks on the region, particularly targeting oil fields (Reuters)
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‘Oil-for-Salaries’ Deal Ends Dispute Between Baghdad and Erbil

Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani stressed the need to put an end to attacks on the region, particularly targeting oil fields (Reuters)
Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani stressed the need to put an end to attacks on the region, particularly targeting oil fields (Reuters)

The Iraqi federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) reached a landmark agreement on Thursday that ends a years-long dispute over oil revenues and public sector salaries.

The deal, announced following an emergency cabinet meeting in Baghdad, covers oil production handover, non-oil revenue sharing, and the resumption of salary payments to KRG employees beginning with May 2025.

According to a government statement, the agreement was based on a recommendation by a ministerial committee and aligned with Kurdistan’s regional cabinet decision No. 285, issued on July 16.

KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani confirmed the breakthrough, stating that the federal government had approved a “mutual understanding regarding salaries and the region’s financial entitlements.”

Under the terms of the deal, the KRG will hand over all crude oil production - currently 280,000 barrels per day (bpd) - to Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), with the exception of 50,000 bpd reserved for domestic consumption. This marks the first such commitment in more than two years, during which oil exports were suspended amid ongoing disputes and recent drone strikes targeting northern oilfields operated mostly by US firms.

In return, the federal Ministry of Finance will pay $16 per barrel, in cash or in kind, to cover production costs. Revenues from locally consumed oil derivatives will go to the federal treasury after deducting production and transport expenses.

On non-oil revenues, the KRG will transfer an initial 120 billion Iraqi dinars (approx. $92 million) to the federal finance ministry, representing an estimate of Baghdad’s share for May. A joint audit team from both governments will verify and finalize the figures within two weeks.

To resolve long-standing disputes over public salaries, a new joint committee will oversee the localization of KRG employee payrolls, in line with a ruling from the Federal Supreme Court. The committee is expected to complete its work within three months.

As part of the agreement’s first phase, the federal government will begin disbursing May salaries following confirmation from SOMO that the agreed oil volumes have been received.