President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, gave a press interview to the Qatari channel “Al-Jazeera”, broadcast this evening, Tuesday, during which he tackled a number of core national and regional issues, such as the Libyan file, as well as a number of Arab files, foremost of which is the Palestinian issue, according to a summary published on the presidency’s Facebook page.
With regard to internal affairs, the President of the Republic said that “the genuine blessed Hirak movement saved the Algerian state from degenerating and Algeria was under the control of a gang,” adding that “this gang stole hundreds of billions of dollars and transferred them abroad,” and “wanted to exploit the former president’s illness to seize power for another five years.”
He deemed, in the same context, that “the extent of corruption in the previous era was huge and we are still discovering its visible and invisible extensions to date,” noting that “only 50 people monopolized imports in the past era and they had the absolute power and decision in choosing who is entitled to invest in Algeria.” “.
He affirmed that “justice seized and recovered all the apparent properties of the gang and returned them to the state treasury,” and Algeria is working – as he said – with friendly countries in Europe and the world to discover and recover the looted funds.
The president added that “13 million Algerians saved Algeria from the fifth term and the extension of the fourth,” and thanks to “the awareness of the people, Algeria has passed the stage of danger,” recalling that Algeria witnessed the first Arab Spring after the events of October 1988.
On the political matter, Mr. Tebboune stressed that “Algeria got rid of ideological Islam forever” and that “the active Islamic current in Algeria is different from the rest of the Islamic movements in other countries.”
Meanwhile, he considered that “the genuine Hirak movement won thanks to its peaceful character under the protection of the security services and the army” and that “the recent marches are anonymous and not united ideologically, neither in demands nor in slogans, and count hundreds of people” only, as “fifty Algerian provinces have not witnessed any marches in the recent period.”
Pt. Tebboune pointed out that “the relationship between the presidency and the army is normal,” stressing that “the Algerian army is a constitutional institution that enshrines the state’s constitution.”
As for the Palestinian issue, President Tebboune said that Algeria’s position is constant and does not change with time or failure,” noting that there is an agreement as part of the Arab League regarding land for peace, which means the establishment of the State of Palestine and then comes peace, but unfortunately today there is neither peace nor land, which calls into question the purpose of normalization.
He added, in the same context, , “Algeria carries the torch of Palestine, Western Sahara and the oppressed peoples,” and therefore we want to silence its voice, “but this will not happen.”
He considered, in this regard, that “stability continues in Algeria, thanks to the strength of its army,” and that “whoever said that Algeria will fall after Syria was mistaken.”
Regarding relations with neighboring Morocco, Mr. Tebboune said: “We don’t have problems with Morocco, but it’s Morocco which has problems with us,” recalling that “the issue of Western Sahara has been in the hands of the UN Committee for Decolonization for four decades” and that the United Nations considers that Western Sahara is a Colony.
He stated, in this respect, that “our relations were once good with Morocco and the borders were open despite the Western Sahara file,” reiterating Algeria’s firm and unwavering position regarding Western Sahara, “and we do not accept the fait accompli, regardless the circumstances.”
As for the Libyan crisis, the President of the Republic stated that Algeria refused to let Tripoli fall “in the hands of mercenaries,” and that it “was ready to intervene in one way or another to prevent its fall.”
“When we said that Tripoli is a red line – said Mr. Tebboune – we meant very well what we said and the message reached all those concerned” recalling Algeria’s position at the Berlin conference to hold general elections in Libya under the supervision of the United Nations.
He pointed out that the Libyan brothers “requested that the Libyan reconciliation takes place in Algeria, and this was confirmed by the Prime Minister of the Libyan National Unity Government during his recent visit to Algeria.”
He deemed that the lack of stability in Libya had repercussions on the situation in Mali and the Shale countries, where, as he added, “convoys loaded with heavy and light weapons were spotted by satellites heading to the Sahel region and were not prevented or stopped.”
The president believes that “such behavior aims to encircle Algeria to facilitate its penetration, and for this reason we seek to further strengthen our army,” noting that the army’s recent military maneuvers came “to ensure its readiness for any emergency.”
With regard to relations with France, the President of the Republic said that there are “three lobbies in France that do not agree with one another, the first is made up of settlers who left Algeria after independence and inherited their hatred to their grandchildren, the second is an extension of the French secret army, and the third is made up of Algerians who chose to take France’s side.”
As for editorial of the French daily “Le Monde” dedicated to Algeria, he said that the Algeria that this newspaper talked about “is not the Algeria we know.”
