A Trip to Algeria?

Question

How are the relations between the US & Algeria?
How is the terrorism in Algeria?
How safe can be an American citizen?
Are the things there less expensive compared with another countries or neigbords?
How flexible is to invest in Algeria?

I have a girlfriend there & I am planning to visit her in December or January, so I will like some answers or comments, please.

Thanks!

Pito J.

Answer 1

FORTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE, VIOLENCE AND IMPOVERISHMENT
US and Algeria: just flirting
By William B Quandt

NOBODY could have imagined a few years ago that the commander of the United States Sixth Fleet would make an official visit to Algiers, or that President Abdelaziz Bouteflika would be received by President Bush in the Oval Office twice in four months. Does this suggest that the US and Algeria are developing a strategic partnership, as is often mentioned by the Algerian president?

Observers in Paris have long suspected that the US wants a pre-eminent role in Algiers, but it is too soon to conclude that the US is about to displace France as Algeria’s primary foreign partner. The US and Algeria have had an uneven relationship and, though the current trend is positive, there are still issues in the way of real intimacy in the relationship. Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and of course Israel, still carry much more weight in Washington. The history of US-Algerian relations is a pattern of steady but often uneasy engagement, punctuated by occasional crises. Nothing suggests that a major improvement is likely in the immediate future.

Algerians often note that in 1957, when he was still a senator, John F Kennedy favoured Algerian independence; and soon after independence Ahmed Ben Bella visited him in the White House. But this visit was almost immediately contrasted with Ben Bella’s visit to Cuba on the eve of the missile crisis of 1962. To many Americans, Ben Bella was not so different in his political views from Fidel Castro. After Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, no one in Washington was prepared go out on a limb for Ben Bella, and when he was ousted in 1965, they were not unhappy.

His successor, Houari Boumediene, presented a different challenge. He was an ardent proponent of "third worldism", a critic of US policy in Vietnam and the Middle East; but he was also a pragmatist, interested in developing economic ties with the US. Any potential for better relations was disrupted by Algeria’s decision to break diplomatic relations with the US during the Six Day Arab-Israeli war of 1967. An interests section was maintained, economic ties continued, particularly the El Paso company’s involvement in the export of Algerian gas, and Boumediene set up a private channel, by way of Algerian businessman Rachid Zeghar, through which discreet communications could be maintained.

By the time of Boumediene’s premature death in 1978, US-Algerian relations were steady and there was hope of continued improvement in the Chadli Bendjedid era, as Algeria began to liberalise. Algeria helped with the release of the US hostages in Iran in 1980, but this counted for little with the Reagan administration, which turned to Morocco instead. By the end of the 1980s Algeria was in a tumult of internal change. The US watched, fascinated, as Algeria lurched toward democracy, though there is little evidence of American involvement in any major event between 1988 and 1992.

The cancellation of the second round of legislative elections in January 1992 was a dilemma for the US. The move was clearly non-democratic, but the likely winner of the election, the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), was outspokenly anti-American as a result of the Gulf war of 1991. Some members of the US administration were convinced that the FIS would eventually come to power and that the US should pragmatically maintain ties to the FIS, even after it was banned by the new Algerian government.

The lesson of the Iranian revolution was that it always pays to keep in touch with opposition movements who might come to power. So for much of 1992-1995 the US was aloof toward the Algerian government and discreetly met with FIS representatives in Europe or the US. Washington supported the Sant’Egidio (Rome) formula of 1995, calling for reconciliation between the Algerian government and the FIS.

Reluctant reformer
But in late 1995 US policy began to change. With the election of President Liamine Zeroual, the State Department decided to try to re-engage with the top political leadership in Algiers. There had been few high-level meetings in previous years, but this gradually changed. Zeroual turned out to be a reluctant reformer at best, and those Americans who met him were not positive about him.

From the outside, Algeria seemed confused and opaque in the 1990s. There were the remains of the effort to democratise - a relatively free press, a pluralistic party system, contested elections, and economic reforms. But there was a high level of violence that the government could not, or would not, stop. Even those who argued for engagement with the government soon admitted that the civilian face of the government was a facade behind which the real power, the generals, remained hidden. The generals rarely met visiting Americans.

A new feature of US-Algerian relations in the late 1990s was the involvement of private NGOs in Algeria. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International tried to monitor the situation and call attention to human rights abuses. The National Democratic Institute tried to encourage democratisation by engaging with independent Algerian journalists and members of the National Assembly after the 1997 elections. These modest steps did not bring significant change, but they broadened US involvement with Algeria and kept pressure on the regime to address issues of concern.

The most important change came in 1999 when Abdelaziz Bouteflika was elected president. The election was farcical, but at least Algeria finally had a head of state who was a public figure, articulate and eager to re-engage with tthe world. Bouteflika was known in Washington, since he had served as Boumediene’s foreign minister from 1963-78 - although few in Washington said much that was good about him. He was seen as aggressive, arrogant, and hostile to the US. But the "new" Bouteflika was endorsed by moderate Arab leaders as being reasonable. President Bill Clinton had an initial informal meeting with him during the funeral of Morocco’s King Hassan II in Rabat on 25 July 1999, and was positively impressed. At that gathering Bouteflika shook hands with the new Israeli prime minister, Ehud Barak, another sign of positive change to some Americans.

But Clinton disappointed the Algerians by never asking Bouteflika offficially to Washington. When the Bush administration took over in 2001, Algeria was eager to redress the snub andshow a strategic partnership now made sense. Indeed, Bouteflika met Bush twice in 2001.

Oil and the war on terrorism are behind the change. Bush has close ties to the oil business from his time as governor of Texas. One company, Houston-based Anadarko, has made a major investment in Algeria and been successful in finding fresh supplies. According to its most recent report, it has discovered 12 oil fields with reserves of 2.8bn barrels of oil since 1991. Production began in 1998 and may reach as much as 500,000 barrels a day in 2003. While still small by Gulf standards, this is a significant involvement for an independent US oil company.

Like many other leaders, Bouteflika immediately offered Alergia’s support in the "war on terror" after 11 September 2001. He hoped that the US would see Algeria’s struggle against Islamic militants as comparable to the war against al-Qaida. Algerians long talked of a link between "Afghan Arabs" and their own terror networks. Whether there has really been much cooperation over-anti terrorism is not clear, but the two governments are at least talking the same language.

There are obstacles to this relationship. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is still an irritant. Algerians cannot feel positive about a US government that backs the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, without limits. Then there is the continuing problem of the Western Sahara, where the US seems firmly on the Moroccan side (1). There is also the question of democratisation, and Algeria’s obvious failures over human rights and democratic practices. France, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt are all unenthusiastic about sudden improvement in US-Algerian connections. Since each counts in US foreign policy, no one wants to see relations negatively affected by any move toward a US-Algerian strategic relationship.

There is no social base in the US to sustain a closer relationship with Algeria. Few Americans, businessmen, tourists, students, journalists or government officials, visit the country. Not many Algerians go to the US. While governments can maintain normal relations without close ties between their peoples, such relations rarely have much depth. So the relationship between Washington and Algiers remains a product of contacts between a few politicians and oil executives whose interests wax and wane.

If Algeria were to become more democratic and reform its economy as the US would like, if the violence ended, if the oil and gas links increased, then US-Algerian relations might have a future. Too many ifs.

I have my own theory , that it was the US who encouraged a Islamic take over in the early nineties.The FIS , the Fundamentalist part were trained by the US in Afganistan , those fighters returned to Algeria . The FIS only office was in Washington.In Those days most of the big contracts were for the French, Italians and Spanish.

If your girlfriend is Algerian you will have many problems meeting in public .Don't forget it's a Moslem country
Algeria is a wonderful country . Regarding expense it far more expensive than Marocco or Tunisia, If you want to invest , I would do it in Morocco.

Answer 2

Algeria is a very safe country i don't know what you're hearing