EMBASSY OF THE PEOPLE S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ALGERIA ALGERIA TODAY

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1 EMBASSY OF THE PEOPLE S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ALGERIA JULY 2012 PREDIDENTIAL ACTIVITIES Page 2 MINISTERIAL ACTIVITIES Page 4 COOPERATION Page 9 CULTURE Page 10 SPORTS Page KALORAMA ROAD NW WASHINGTON DC TEL: (202) FAX: (202) Website: algeria-us.org mail@algeria-us.org

2 PRESIDENTIAL ACTIVITIES Page 2 PRESIDENT BOUTEFLIKA HOSTS VISITING FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER FABIUS On July 16, the President of the Republic, Mr. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, hosted Mr. Laurent Fabius, Minister for Foreign Affairs of France, who was in Algeria on a two-day official visit at the invitation of his Algerian counterpart, Mr. Mourad Medelci. The presidential audience took place at the Djenane El Mufti state residence and was attended by Mr. Medelci as well. Speaking to the media after his meeting with the president, Mr. Fabius declared that All conditions have been met to provide a new impetus to the partnership between Algeria and France. He added that his talks with President Bouteflika included a review of all aspects of our bilateral relationship and of the major regional and international issues. Mr. Fabius indicated that the objective of his visit, which lays the ground for a visit by President François Hollande, is to contribute to boosting the Algerian-French partnership.

3 Page 3 THE HEAD OF STATE PRESIDES OVER A CEREMONY OF PRESENTATION OF RANKS TO PNA SENIOR OFFICERS On July 5, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and Minister of National Defense, presided over a ceremony of presentation of ranks to senior officers of the People s National Army (PNA) held on the occasion of the festivities celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the recovery of national sovereignty. Thirty-one (31) PNA colonels and ten (10) generals were respectively promoted to the ranks of general and major-general. The newly promoted officers include a woman, who became the second woman to reach the rank of general within the country s military hierarchy. Furthermore, the head of state awarded medals to a number of military and civilian members of the People s National Army. The award ceremony was attended by Minister Delegate to the Minister of National Defense Abdelmalek Guenaïzia, People s National Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaïd Salah, and other senior officers of the PNA. Prior to the rank and award ceremony, the President of the Republic had reviewed a detachment of the Republican Guard and People s National Army s forces, which had paid their respect to him, and listened to the national anthem.

4 MINISTERIAL ACTIVITIES Page 4 PRIME MINISTER AHMED OUYAHIA PRIME MINISTER OUYAHIA TAKES PART IN THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE 19 TH ORDINARY SESSION OF THE AFRICAN UNION SUMMIT MEETING In his quality as Representative of the President of the Republic, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Mr. Ahmed Ouyahia traveled to Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, to take part in the proceedings of the 19 th ordinary session of the Heads of State and Government of the African Union, which convened on July 15 and 16, At the meeting, the participants discussed the conflict and post-conflict situations prevailing in a number of countries, including Mali, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Sudan-South Sudan conflict. In an address delivered during the proceedings on the state of peace and security in Africa, Mr. Ouyahia said that Algeria is concerned and engaged by the situation prevailing in Mali, similarly to other countries of the sub-region and Africa. The Prime minister declared that Algeria s vision and strategy are founded on four principles, including respecting the borders inherited at independence, preserving the national unity of Mali, respecting the sovereignty of Mali and the Malians in the choices and decisions they make with regards to the country s domestic affairs, and the determined and implacable fight against terrorism and organized crime. The AU meeting was held under the theme of Promotion of Intra-African Trade, with the objective of boosting trade exchanges between the countries of the Continent. The meeting s proceedings were also highlighted by the election of South Africa s Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma as the next president of the African Union Commission, thus succeeding Gabon s Jean Ping, who had headed the commission since 2008.

5 Page OLYMPIC GAMES: MR. OUYAHIA ATTENDS OPENING CEREMONIES AS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia traveled to London as representative of the President of the Republic, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, to attend the opening ceremonies for the 30 th Sumer Olympic Games, said a statement released by the Office of the Prime Minister.

6 Page 6 THE MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS MEDELCI HOSTS HIS BELGIAN COUNTERPART DIDIER REYNDERS On July 10, Minister for Foreign Affairs Mourad Medelci hosted at the headquarters of his ministry his Belgian counterpart, Mr. Didier Reynders, who was making a working visit to Algeria. Greeted at his arrival at Algiers Houari Boumédiene international airport, Mr. Reynders said his visit was aimed at strengthening Algerian-Belgian bilateral relations in all areas. At a joint press conference held after their meeting, Mr. Medelci said that Our bilateral relations are characterized by qualitative cooperation, which became stronger with time and which should gain in further intensity thanks to the coming visits by Belgian government officials and members of Belgium s business community who will then discover the vast array of investment opportunities that exist in Algeria. Moreover, during their meeting, the two sides reviewed a number of major regional and international issues.

7 Page 7 MR. MEDELCI PARTICIPATES IN THE MEETING OF THE ARAB MINISTERIAL COMMITTEE in charge of following up on the Syrian crisis and in the ministerial meeting of the Arab peace initiative committee Minister for Foreign Affairs Mourad Medelci participated on July 22 and 23 in doha, Qatar, to the proceedings of the Arab ministerial meeting in charge of following up on the Syrian crisis. Chaired by Qatar s Prime minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Hamad ben Jassam al-thani, the meeting involved consultations on the Syrian issue among the members of the Council of the Arab League, in light of the recent developments in the region. Algeria has expressed reservations with regards to the third chapter of the decision reached by the Arab League members at the meeting, which called on the Syrian president to step down, arguing that that decision was up to the brotherly Syrian people and not a prerogative of the Arab League Council. Thereafter, Mr. Medelci took part in a meeting of the Arab Follow-Up Committee of the Arab peace initiative, which reviewed joint actions by the Arab countries in the face of the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process and Palestine s accession to full membership within the United Nations. Additionally, the committee discussed ways and means of resolving the financial issues faced by the Palestinian Authority. Chaired by Qatar, the meeting was convened at the behest of the Palestinian Authority and in the presence of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Mr. Ahmed Ben Hali, Deputy Secretary General of the Arab League, told the press that the meeting examined measures that the Arab and Palestinian side could potentially take to revive the stalled peace process.

8 Page 8 MR. MESSAHEL HOLDS TALKS WITH VISITING BELGIAN FOREIGN MINISTER Minister Delegate for Maghreb and African Affairs Abdelkader Messahel met at the ministry for foreign affairs in Algiers on July 10 with visiting Belgian foreign minister Didier Reynders. The head of Belgian diplomacy declared that the main objective of his visit was to strengthen relations with Algeria in all areas, including political, economic and cultural ties. Mr. Reynders further announced the coming convention of a joint Algerian-Belgian economic forum covering a wide array of sectors. MINISTER MESSAHEL PARTICIPATES IN THE CHINA-AFRICA COOPERATION FORUM CONVENED IN BEIJING Minister Delegate for Maghreb and African Affairs Abdelkader Messahel traveled to Beijing to take part in the 5 th ministerial conference of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum, which convened in the Chinese capital city on July 19 and 20. The conference, which was also attended by African foreign ministers, the President of the African Union Commission and senior officials of the People s Republic of China, was held under the theme of Consolidating the Gains and Opening New Prospects for the China-Africa strategic Partnership. The forum s participants assessed progress made in implementing follow-up measures of the previous conference held in 2009 and examined ways and means to deepen Sino-African relations and developed a plan of action to further cooperation between the two sides over the next three years.

9 COOPERATION Page 9 COOPERATION BETWEEN THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATION AND UNICEF Cooperation between the United Nations Children s Fund (UNICEF) and the Ministry of Communication was at the heart of the discussions held between Minister of Communication Nacer Mehal and UNICEF s new representative in Algiers, Mr. Thomas Davin. The two sides examined the state of cooperation initiated recently and expressed their satisfaction with the results reached so far. Mr. Davin told his host of UNICEF s desire to use existing Algerian broadcast and awareness networks to help implement the various campaigns that it intends to conduct in support of children, teenagers, and literacy, as well as many others topics connected to childhood. For his part, Minister of Communication Mehal assured UNICEF s representative of his ministry s availability and determination to help and support UNICEF successfully implement its various campaigns. He also suggested to Mr. Davin that his organization consider the possibility of associating Algerian civil society in its campaigns, thus increasing the level of awareness and impact of such actions.

10 CULTURE age 10 EL GOSTO DOCUMENTARY S NATIONAL PREVIEW IN ALGIERS Documentary El Gosto, by Algerian-Irish director Safinez Bousbia, was previewed Friday, 27 th July 2012, at the Cosmos-Ryadh el-feth movie theatre in Algiers. The film will be screened throughout the whole month of Ramadan. Produced by "Quidam production" and distributed in Algeria by "Cirta film", the documentary tells the story of an Algerian student, Safinez Bousbia, living in Dublin (Ireland) who came to Algiers to discover her country for the first time and meet with the musicians of the chaabi music created by El Hadj el Anka M'hamed. Throughout the documentary, the director traces the history of chaabi music and its evolution in Algerian society based on the witnessing of the first students of El Anka such as Ahmed el Bernaoui or Robert Castel. Presented for the first time in October 2011 in South Korea, "El Gosto" was released in France last January and is currently exploited in Algeria.

11 SPORTS age 11 HORSEBACK-RIDING: JUNIOR TEAM IS WORLD CHAMPION Algeria s Junior Horseback Riding Team was sacred club world champion at the Generali des Clubs Open de France competition held on July 28 and 29 at the equestrian federal park of Lamotte-Beuvron, France. The fourrider team, which included 16 to 17-year old Amal Feriel Bouhadji, Hamid Bouchnafa, Mohsen Bouguerra, and Mohamed Guemane, became world champions in the final stage of the competition, getting ahead of teams from Germany, France, Tunisia, and Senegal.