2009 in Algeria - October

October

• October 7: An English medical delegation has agreed to visit Algeria once a month to provide medical care for infants suffering from congenital cardiopathy. The English doctors will expedite disease diagnosing techniques and distance training through video conference systems.

• October 7: Most of the attacks conducted by the Salafist Group For Preaching and Combat (GSPC) employs the use of homemade bombs and explosives. These devices are used because the terrorists lack military means and manpower. The explosives have rendered immense casualties to members of the Algerian security services.

• October 9: Journalist and rights activist Hafnaoui Ghoul is on trial for criticizing local authorities in Djelfa province. The Committee to Protect Journalists has asked Algerian authorities to drop charges against Ghoul.

• October 12: Ten Islamic militants and three soldiers were killed in an intense gun battle in the Sahara Desert. This occurred when a convoy of well armed militants was attacked by members of the Algerian army. The gunmen, traversing the desert in 4X4 vehicles, looked for refuge near the Great Erg, the world's largest sand dune. They repelled security forces, killing three and wounding two more. A security chief in Bechar said that Algerian troops, supported by army helicopters, killed ten militants, including three who were not Algerian nationals.

• October 17: Algeria's Ministry of Public Works is studying the feasibility of a road link between Tindouf and Choum in northern Mauretania.

• October 19: President Bouteflika is closely following the progress of the Algerian national soccer team which will play Egypt in a qualifying match for the 2010 World Cup, to be held in South Africa.

• October 19: L. Mourad, nicknamed Nouh Abu Qatada Es-Salafi, a terrorist, was ambushed and killed in El Khither, in the province of El Bayedh. Known as the Salafi in English, L. Mourad was one of the oldest and most ominous of the amirs of the GSPC, Groupe Salafiste pour la Predication et le Combat.

• October 22: Sonatrach has joined France's Total and Spain's Cepsa in the Timimoun natural gas project. Located in southwestern Algeria, Timimoun expects to produce 1.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually.

• October 23: Hundreds of youths from the Algiers' slum district, Diar Echems, threw stones at police from the roads which lead to their decrepit homes. The youths, with their parents' assistance, were protesting the need for them to sleep in rooms which are occupied by ten or more people. Another reason for the violence is that Algerian authorities threatened to prohibit the construction of shanties on a soccer ground in the area.

• October 27: The Algerian-American Sonatrach-Anadarko announced the signing of a $149.7 million contract with the Italian firm Bonatti. The agreement is for conducting gas facilities near Hassi Messaoud, Algeria's largest oil field.

• October 29: Two hundred Tunisian families crossed the border between Algeria and Tunisia in late October. They occupied tents in the El Mezara region, in the town of Bir El Ater, Tebessa province. They have requested political asylum from Algerian authorities after fleeing Hogra injustice.