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African Leaders Denounce Foreign "Meddling" in Algeria
LUSAKA, July 11 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Delegates to the Organization of African Unity (OAU) summit in Zambia have condemned unnamed foreign powers for what they termed "interference" in Algeria's internal affairs, news agencies reported.
A resolution passed late Tuesday night, expressed the pan-African body's strong objection to "positions and other initiatives taken by foreign parties tending to interfere in the sovereign decisions of Algeria."
The denunciation appeared to be aimed at France and the European Union, both of which condemned a security crackdown launched in Kabylie, Algeria's ethnic Berber region, in April, AFP reported.
The resolution of "support for Algeria" said that the troubled North African country was engaged in a program of "national recovery in a framework of democracy, social progress and freedom."
The OAU "reaffirms its support for the actions led by Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on the internal and international levels for peace, security and development as well as for the promotion of the causes and interests of Africa in the world."
Bouteflika held the rotating OAU presidency in 1999-2000.
The unrest began three months ago, in Algeria's Berber-speaking region of Kabylie, with rioting by youths enraged at the killing of a local student in gendarmerie custody. The unrest has since spread to towns elsewhere in the country.
It has also mushroomed into a protest movement that has drawn in almost all of the Kabyle community - with arbitrary and abusive behavior of the gendarmerie and local officials as the main complaint. However, other frustrations, such as unemployment and a shortage of housing, have also come to the fore.
The initial response of the Algerian authorities was to try to put down the riots by firing live ammunition at demonstrators, thus resulting in the deaths of a number of people. These killings have ignited a wave of anger in the region that has yet to subside.
According to the BBC online service, the most politically involved of all Algerians, the Kabyles have a history of agitation against the central government that began in the 1960s, soon after Algeria became independent from France.
In the 1980s, young Kabylians led a movement for official recognition of the Berber language and culture that drew repressive reactions from the regime and which have continued, even today.
Although most Algerians are descendants of the Berbers, the original inhabitants of North Africa, agitation for the recognition of Berber culture has been mainly a Kabyle affair.
The inhabitants of Kabylie, along with other Berbers living in remote, mostly desert or mountainous areas, were never fully "Arabized" and have succeeded in holding onto elements of their culture and identity.
Other Berbers in Algeria who have succeeded in retaining their language are: the Shawiyya in the east, the Mzabis in the northern Sahara and the Tuareg in the far south.
Nearly all Berbers are Muslims and the two million Kabylie Berbers mostly work in the agricultural field.
But, they are still denied official recognition as distinct minority in Algeria.
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