- Algeria's Minister of Interior and Local Communities has confirmed 375 abduction cases in 2007. Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni told the Algiers parliament that 115 cases had been related to terrorism while the remaining 260 were related to family disputes.
International observers noted that the openness of the Interior Minister was an extraordinary event. It was the first time abduction statistics were revealed by the Ministry, which is not famed for publishing details regarding the country's security situation.
Mr Zerhouni summed up last year's events in parliament. The Algerian Islamist group calling itself al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) recently held two Austrians tourists in Tunisia demanding the release of its members held in Tunisia and Algeria.
In Algeria, the conflict between the government and Islamists is deep-rooted. In the 1990s, after the Islamists were hindered from taking on power after winning an election, years of insurgency is believed to have killed around 200,000 people.
Interior Minister Zerhouni said security forces had killed one rebel leader and arrested six associates responsible for the 11 December 2007 twin bombings in Algiers by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. Security forces also claimed that rebel leader "emir" Hamza was shot in February during a counter-terror raid.
The attacks on Algeria's security forces continued despite the announcement by the Algerias Security chief Ali Tounsi to beef-up security to 200,000 by 2010.
Despite hope instilled in the masses of the Algerian people for a better life in the oil rich country, they are still haunted by acts of terrorism, as Minister Zerhouni's report bore witness of.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
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