Messahel: “President Bouteflika Is The Only Person Who Can Decide To Run For A Fifth Term”

Algerian government shows initial approval of the Pope Francis visit to Algeria, and confirmed the cooperation of the two countries on the level of justice to investigate the circumstances of the assassination of Tibhirine monks, Foreign Minister, Abdelkader Messahel, said.

“We are in contact with the Vatican state on this visit and Algeria gave its initial approval. I expect the Pope Francis to visit Algeria in the coming weeks or months”, Messahel said in an interview with the French edition of France 24.

French media talked about a future visit of the Vatican’s Pope to Algeria, to oversee the ceremony of canonizing 19 monks who were killed between 1994 and 1996, including the Tibhirine monks”.

They indicated that these decrees will be held in the Cathedral of Oran, according to the newspaper “Liberation”, noting that the Vatican issued a decree at the end of last January, in which he gave a degree of “martyr” to the monks who were killed in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, in preparation for “canonizing” them.

In response to what the French journalist saw as the lack of transparency in the official position on the case of Tibhirine monks, Messahel explained: “We are not afraid of the truth … There is a cooperation of judicial authorities of the two countries on the investigation of the case. Everyone understands the circumstances in which the incident took place.”

Massahel appeared cautious about a question about President Bouteflika’s candidacy for a fifth term, and said: “President Bouteflika is the only to decide about running for the Presidential Elections”.

“He realized many achievements since he was nomianted President of the Republic, which helped to lift the country from the crises that were experienced during the decade of the nineties”.

On the Moroccan accusations of Algeria, the head of diplomacy reiterated that his country pays no attention to the Moroccan provocations calling for the presence of Algeria as a party in the upcoming negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario Front.

“The UN resolutions are clear and they call for unconditional negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario Front, as the sole and legitimate representative of the Saharawi people”, Messahel said, adding that, “Algeria supports the legitimate rights of the Saharawi people. This is obvious between Western Sahara and Morocco”.

Messahel reiterated Algeria’s support for the Saharawi people in their self-determination: “Our position is clear since years of supporting the peoples under colonialism, this is a principled position and the Saharawi people continue to suffer from this phenomenon”; accusing Moroccan authorities of responsibility for the escalation, which was highlighted by more than one official in the Mekhzen system.

Messahel was asked about Algeria’s role in fighting terrorism, saying that the Algerian model remains a pioneer in this regard, and justified Algeria’s non-involvement in France’s project to counter terrorism in the Sahel region, through the G5 Sahel”, with the texts of Algerian constitution which prevents the army from sending any soldier outside the borders of the country, and insisted that: “Each country has its own approach to counter terrorism.”

Algeria Foreign Minister is on an official visit to France since Monday at the invitation of his French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian.

He activated a symposium on “International Day for Coexistence in Peace” was held Tuesday at the request of UNESCO.