UAE and Algeria sign security agreement

March 11, 2013

Abu Dhabi: The UAE and Algeria have signed a security cooperation agreement that provides for fighting all forms of crimes and exchanging information and expertise to enable such a partnership.

Lieutenant General Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, and Dahou Ould Kablia, Algeria’s Minister of Interior and Local Government, signed the agreement in Abu Dhabi yesterday.

The agreement covers cooperation in combating all forms of crimes, including human and drugs trafficking and trade in illegal arms. It also set the legal framework and mechanisms of coordination between both sides in their joint efforts to fight all types of crime and share information and expertise related to security issues.

The agreement calls for setting up a joint committee to follow up on the progress of the security partnership.

Source: http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/government/uae-and-algeria-sign-security-agreement-1.1156982

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"Crime" = Freedom of expression

"Exchanging information" = Exchanging intelligence, monitoring the public.

"Expertise related to security issues" = Expertise in dealing with potential threats to the regime - silencing genuine opposition. 

A recent spike in defence spending and now a "security agreement" between a military-run regime and a Gulf state, run by an authoritarian monarchy outwardly adamant against the Arab Spring. < A match made in heaven. 

It seems like the Algerian regime is doing everything it can to prepare itself against a future uprising. 

But the uprising is inevitable. 

Riots erupt in Algeria over social housing

A mark of scenes to come. 
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52 People injured when protesters clash with police in Bodj Bou Arreridj over allocation of subsidised housing.

Middle East Online

Shortage as more than 26,000 people are seeking social housing ALGIERS - People angry over the allocation of subsidised housing have clashed with police in a town east of the Algerian capital, leaving 52 people injured, an AFP correspondent said on Wednesday. Rioters sacked the mayor's office in Bodj Bou Arreridj, 230 kilometres (145 miles) from the capital, and partly blocked a motorway, causing tailbacks. Forty-three demonstrators and nine police were being treated in hospital on Wednesday, a day after the protests broke out when a list of 935 people being allocated social housing was published. The demonstrators gathered in front of the prefecture with banners that read: "We demand our right to housing" and "Down with corruption and favouritism." Riot police responded with tear gas to disperse them. "We published a list of beneficiaries for 935 homes, which people have a right to contest. But there are demonstrations because there are more than 26,000 people seeking social housing," local official Mamoun Belmouhou said. He said the authorities had already received 3,000 complaints. The publication of housing allocations often results in violence in Algeria, which has a serious shortage. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika promised to build more than one million homes under a 2010-2014 development plan, but construction is slow and complaints of corruption are numerous. Source: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=57239

Remembering Black October

In October 1988, Algeria witnessed a major upheaval that may well be considered the first case of what has become known as the “Arab Spring”. Immense demonstrations filled the streets, with young and old, protesting for numerous reasons, all of which contributed to increasing social despair: rising prices in basic goods, population increase, living standards deteriorating rapidly, food, water and electricity shortages, widespread unemployment, especially among youths who felt that the benefits of a cautious liberalization had passed them by; at that point, fifty-seven percent of Algeria’s population of 23 million was under 21. In addition, disenchantment with the political system in place, characterised by growing corruption, lead to calls for the democratization of a corrupt, autocratic, and inward-looking regime. A regime, run by the military-dominated Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) party, that had held power since Algeria’s independence in 1962. The Algerian people demanded change.

The protests were violently repressed, with the army opening fire and killing some 500 to 800 people, torturing and arresting thousands. Nevertheless, the demonstrations proved effective in spite of this violent oppression. The  FLN’s reputation  of ‘fighting for freedom and resistance’ against the French colonialists was damaged beyond repair. In order to save the regime, President (and army officer) Chadli Benjedid  embarked on a series of political and economic reforms that brought about the downfall of the single-party system  and widened political participation. His new policies included lifting restrictions on freedom of expression, association and organization. As a result, several independent national and regional newspapers as well as diverse civil-society organizations were established. These reforms demonstrated a turning point in independent Algerian history, with many preparing themselves for the road to democratic rule. However, this promising political liberalization process was tragically short-lived when it became evident that the Islamic Salvation Front/Front Islamique du Salut (FIS) was about to achieve a sweeping victory following the first round of elections in December 1991 (which were won by the FIS at around 84% of seats) , consequently invalidated by the military-dominated High Security Council.

Although Algeria has yet to join the rising tides of revolution in the Arab world, out of sheer terror masterminded by the corrupt regime, it is no longer a matter of whether Algeria is immune to the Arab Spring, but a matter of when the Algerian people will rise up again and end this rule once and for all.