2008 in Algeria - June

June

• June 2: The Russian Irkut (company) Corporation delivered 2 Su 30 MKA Flanker multi-role fighters to Algeria. By the terms of a 2006 contract amounting to $2.5 billion, Irkut is scheduled to deliver 28 Su 30 MKA fighters to Algeria by 2010. Irkut is part of Russia's United Aircraft Corporation (UAC).

• June 5: A suicide attack occurred in Bordj El Kiffan, eastern Algiers, in front of the main entrance of the Republican Guards barracks. Nearby a bomb exlpoded inside a cafe'. One person was killed and many others were injured. Observers suspected the two incidents were the work of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb A thirty-year-old man carried a bomb belt to the barracks near Matares Beach. He blew himself up two meters in front of the barrack's gate.

• June 5: Six Algerian soldiers were killed and four wounded in Cap Djinet, east of Algiers, when a roadside bomb exploded when their vehicle ran over it, returning to their barracks.

• June 6: Algeria is cited in a United States trafficking in persons report, which specifies it as a transit nation for illegal migrants coming from southern African countries. Often these persons become involved in prostitution networks.

• June 8: Thirteen people were killed at a railway station in Beni Amrane (about sixty miles east of Algiers) when two bombs exploded. The explosives were triggered by a remote control device. The first bomb killed at least two people, including a French citizen who was repairing the station's rails. He was in the process of leaving the area in a car.

• June 8: Algeria's national oil company, Sonatrach, and the Portuguese company, Energias de Portugal (EDP), signed a memorandum to expand their partnership outside the Iberian Peninsula. The companies hope to bring their products to Latin America. Sonatrach owns a 2.035% stake in EDP.

• June 10: Shariket Karhaba Koudiet Edraaouch Spa (SKD), a subsidiary of Sonatrach and Sonelgaz, have said that a consortium of General Electric and Iberdrola of Spain are responsible for the construction of a power station being built in El Taref, 700 kilometers east of Algiers. The project will increase Algeria's energy capacity by 18%.

• June 12: A cooperation agreement sealed by Sonatrach stipulates that a bureau of the Russian oil company, Gazprom, will open in Algiers in June.

• June 12: Air Algérie announced an increase of 15% in wages to become effective by June 2009. The raise for pilots and employees necessitates the allocation of $959 million. Seven trade unions defended the company's employees in negotiations with airline executives.

• June 15: Four people suspected of complicity in the deaths of six Algerian soldiers were arrested in Cap Djinet in the coastal province of Boumerdes, They admitted to attacking an army troops patrol in Cap Djinet on June 5.

• June 15: The president of the pharmaceutical sector in Algeria, Lofti Ben Ahmed, said that Algerian medicines are subject to being smuggled into Morocco and Tunisia even though control measures have been set up at all borders. Medicines imported into Algeria are being sold illegally in Oujda. Medicines are nonrefundable in Morocco because social insurance is nonexistent there.

• June 15: The Algerian navy apprehended twenty-four Algerians attempting to enter Europe by boat from Oran.

• June 16: NATO proposed a unilateral counterterrorism program for Algeria which would include seven hundred troops, with coordination of military and information activities. The training of military officials would be conducted at the defense academy in Rome, Italy.

• June 16: A 2008 people census revealed that there are approximately 35 million people in Algeria, with a growth rate of 1.72% from 1998 "- 2008.

• June 17: Three Moroccans affiliated with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb were detained three weeks ago and have been transferred to Serkadji prison in Algiers. The three said that they carried arms against the United States as well as working to overthrow the "pro U.S. monarchy in Morocco. It is unsure whether they will be tried in Algeria or Morocco.

• June 17: An investigative team has been formed to inquire into scandals affecting Algerian hospitals. The committee will submit a detailed report to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in the coming months. The investigation has been prompted by complaints of poor treatment of patients and bad hospital working conditions.

• June 18: Production workers at Sonatrach threaten an indefinite strike unless their demands for wage increases and other grievances are not met.

• June 18: Algerian Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem revealed in an interview with Le Monde that his country would object to some provisions of the Union For The Mediterranean Project proposed by Nicolas Sarkozy. One of these was an agreement to normalize relations with Israel. Belkhadem stated that President Bouteflika did not desire a life term and supported democratic elections in which Algerians would be free to select from a number of candidates.

• June 19: Tayeb Louh, Algerian Labour, Employment and Social Security minister, said that there are more than one million unemployed in Algeria and 300,000 new job seekers annually.

• June 21: Algerian security forces killed an armed Islamist near Tizi-Ouzou, in the town of Akaouadj, 110 kilometers east of Algiers. An automatic gun, documents, and ammunition were seized by the government forces.

• June 24: Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansoori, the head of the Algeria-United Arab Emirates joint committee, said that the Emirates will invest $50 billion in Algeria by 2010. Saeed stated that the Algerian party could determine projects for investment in the agricultural sector in the upcoming years.

• June 25: Algeria is experiencing a shortage of 25 important medicines including those which treat blood pressure, gynecology, and heart disease.

• June 29: Algerian and Palestinian authorities signed a tax exemption agreement in Algiers which favors Palestinian products in a resolution to support the Palestinian economy.

• June 29: The Algerian civil defence announced that the number of professional divers available to the country's beaches would be raised to 500 in the coming years.

• June 29: Houcine Zehouane revealed that Mohamed Boudia supervised a secret organization in Algiers following the military coup which ousted former Algerian president Ahmed Ben Bella. Boudia was prosecuted and forced to leave Algeria to avoid imprisonment. He was murdered by the Israeli Mossad on June 28, 1973. Mossad was assisted by French intelligence. Zehouane spoke at a conference organized by Boudia's sons which was associated with the Art et Culture institution.

• June 30: President Bouteflika donated $150,000 to the Clayton County, Iowa Disaster Relief Committee, to assist the town of Elkader, Iowa in its recovery from the June 2008 flooding. Elkader is named after Emil Abdelkader (1832 - 1847), an Algerian freedom fighter.