[R-G] Algeria, France to Sign Nuclear Energy Pact + Algeria Riots Pose Risk of Wider Unrest

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

It looks like the West is intent on proliferating nuclear technology
in the Middle East: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, the UAE, Saudi
Arabia, Yemen (the poorest country in the Middle East!), all run by
the regimes far more vulnerable to social unrest than Iran's. --
Yoshie

<http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jWMvYvaDmgKobw7fR-D2WlYR35uw>
Algeria, France to sign nuclear energy pact: minister

16 hours ago

ALGIERS (AFP) — Algeria and France are due to sign an unprecedented
nuclear energy cooperation pact, Algerian Energy Minister Chakib
Khelil said Saturday.

At a press conference with Khelil, French counterpart Jean Louis
Borloo said this agreement "mainly foresees an exchange of technology
between the two countries as well as technical and financial
assistance from France."

Borloo refrained from giving any further information on the
forthcoming agreement, saying that details will be released during
Prime Minister Francois Fillon's visit to the North African country on
June 20-21.

The two countries signed a nuclear energy pact in Algiers back in
December, during a visit to Algeria by French President Nicolas
Sarkozy.

"Cooperation on civil nuclear energy that our two countries have
concluded is a sign that France trusts Algeria," Sarkozy said during
the visit. It was also a wider mark of trust between the West and the
Muslim world he added.

This partnership will allow the mineral rich-country to take part in
nuclear energy research, training and to exploit its uranium reserves.

"This is the first time France has signed such an agreement with an
Arab country," a delighted French representative said.

A top presidential official confirmed that France would be in charge
of installing the whole process to get this nuclear energy accord off
the ground.

Algeria has already signed similar nuclear energy deals with the
United States and Russia.

Since 1995 it has had two experimental nuclear reactors, both of which
are monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

<http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN143181.html>
Algeria riots pose risk of wider unrest
Sun 1 Jun 2008, 11:00 GMT

By William Maclean

ALGIERS (Reuters) - Sporadic riots in OPEC member Algeria this year
risk triggering wider protests against a political elite slow to turn
unprecedented oil wealth into jobs and homes.

Street clashes are a prickly issue in Algeria, a major gas exporter to
Europe with a record of rebellion and where youth riots in 1988 forced
the authorities to abandon one-party rule.

The country of 33 million people is still searching for stability
following an undeclared civil war in the 1990s that cost more than
150,000 lives. The violence erupted after the cancellation of a
general election in 1992 which a now-outlawed Muslim fundamentalist
party was poised to win.

There is very little risk of a return to the bloodshed of the 1990s,
Algerians say. But a return to nationwide civil disturbances that
shook the north African country in 2001-02 and 1988 cannot be ruled
out if violent protests continue.

"We have settled into a rioting phase which augurs no good," wrote the
independent El Watan newspaper.

Unemployed youths in the second city of Oran last week spent three
days ransacking banks, shops, cars and bars and fighting running
battles with helmeted riot police firing tear gas.

PETTY THUGS

The immediate trigger was anger over the relegation of the town's
soccer team to the second division. Commentators said that while the
instigators may have been petty thugs, an atmosphere of despair over
social ills helped draw in other youths and spread the turmoil to
central districts.

The unrest followed street protests in dozens of other towns in recent
months over worsening economic and social conditions.

Police have so far adopted a measured approach in tackling the
disturbances, using tear gas and baton charges in towns such as Chlef,
Oran and Berriane, but if rioters are killed the risk to national
stability would grow, analysts say

Former prime minister Ahmed Benbitour, a critic of what he calls the
unresponsiveness of the army-backed administration, said the unrest
showed the authorities should pre-empt more unrest by promoting
transparency and cleaner government.

"We need to work rapidly for change and set the conditions for its
success in the interest of the Algerian people, or change will impose
itself by force," he told El Khabar daily.

Power is concentrated in the presidency, with parliament seen as a
rubber-stamp. Some 75 percent of under 30-year-olds are unemployed and
despite a state pledge to build a million new homes by 2009, demands
for more housing are made daily.

"Citizens, above all the young, compare what goes on in the country to
other nations. They seek a living standard and a future akin to what
they see on foreign TV," Benbitour said.

Communications Minister Abderrachid Boukerzaza said the Oran
disturbances "were at the centre of the concerns of the public
authorities" and the government had embarked on an effort to
understand the violence and identify its causes.

Uppermost in many minds is concern to avoid a repeat of 2001, when a
local revolt in the Kabylie region triggered by the death of a youth
in police custody escalated into a national revolt against what
protesters saw as authoritarian rule.

The government only defused the unrest when it agreed to demands to
withdrew the paramilitary gendarmerie from Kabylie.

Some secular Algerians fear wider instability would present a window
of opportunity to banned Islamist groups seeking a return to active
politics: They could make political capital by using their extensive
networks of informal influence in mosques and the black market to
stabilise the situation, they argue.

<http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/939475.html>
Last update - 13:27 29/12/2007  	 	 	
Sarkozy, in Egypt, offers French nuclear assistance to Cairo
By Reuters

<http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hucF0OpGg8bTc0dmXrb2xdacNT4g>
French FM due in Jordan to sign nuclear deal
2 days ago

<http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hvx6I_y9so8CykQ5XB3RNj5fU34A>
US unveils deals with Saudi on nuclear power, oil protection
May 16, 2008

<http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2008/May/theuae_May740.xml&section=theuae>
UAE, France lay ground for nuclear partnership
(Wam)
22 May 2008

<http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jGyhkloKVOKjA-R3T0hIPOmIKgug>
Yemen signs nuclear energy deal with US firm
Sep 24, 2007
-- 
Yoshie
<http://montages.blogspot.com/>