Funr (FUNR)

[SharonB]

News from Mahgreb region.
The Army ends up the 4-day military operation
The terrorist Aksil killed with other 4 terrorists

The 4-day military operation led by the national army in Sohane region bordering Blida and Boumerdés wilayas has ended up by the killing of five terrorists among six who made up the armed group.
The most noticeable achievement of the military operation is the killing of the terrorist Aksil Mneouer known in Boufarik locality in Blida who was wanted by security services since a few months after he re-joined the terrorist groups when released after serving a five-year prison sentence.
The other terrorist “H. Abla” who joined the terrorist groups a few months ago has also been eliminated, according to El Khabar sources. However the three other killed terrorists are underway of identification.
Security services have also managed to recover some machine guns and ammunition used by the dismantled terrorist group and the most important is that security forces have also dismantled more than 15 hand made antipersonnel mines.
http://www.elkhabar.com/FrEn/lire.php?ida=74505&idc=52
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US President Advisor in Algeria to schedule important security meetings

A political source reported that the US president homeland security and counter-terrorism advisor has held meetings with Algerian security officials yesterday in order to organize periodic security meetings in Algeria and the USA that fall within intelligence and security coordination between the two countries.
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has charged his advisor HEM Kamel Rezzag-Bara to receive the US president advisor Ms. Frances Fragos Townsend who said by her arrival to the airport that she came “to discuss with Algerian officials counter-terrorism related issues”, exhorting the Algerian experience in this field.
She stated, in a declaration reported by Algeria News Agency APS that “the USA would like to take advantage from that experience in its fight against peace and security enemies worldwide”.
The official in charge of communication and cultural affairs at the US embassy in Algeria, Mr. Mathieu Goshko told El Khabar that Ms. Frances Fragos Townsend visit has been on the agenda for long, noting that she is charged by President Bush to “hold important meetings with Algerian officials on terrorism related issues”. The same source added that he doesn’t know the Algerian officials the US senior official is to meet, stressing that the visit lasts one day and is a Maghreban one, as she visited Morocco earlier and is to visit Libya later.
http://www.elkhabar.com/FrEn/lire.php?idc=52&ida=74507
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General Director of National Safety from Bejaia
Re-tighten the stronghold on terrorists

National safety General Director said yesterday during a visit to Bejaia that his services are carrying out the anti terrorism campaign in all fields with all means as citizens wish and fulfilling Republic President orders, while “terrorists still reject to put down arm, despite facilities that national reconciliation charter offers to them.”
Colonel Ali Tounsi considered that there is a constant amelioration in terms of security situation in Kabylia region during the last few months if compared to last years’ situation. General Director refused to comment on last terrorist attacks escalation in the region last weeks of which a murdering attempt against Tizi Ouzou wilaya Prefect and other kidnapping operations against contractors and businessmen there, which investigations unveiled that they were terrorists acts. The Director of National Safety Department alluded to follow a new strategy in terms of fighting terrorism.
Colonel Tounsi, however, has not explained in his short answers to journalists’ questions what would the new means that are to be adopted to fight terrorists who still reject to surrender. The speaker has just stated that “Army and security services are to lead intensive operations against those who decided to carry weapons for reasons of their own.” These statements gave impression of abandoning National Reconciliation Charter that activating terrorist groups ignore.
http://www.elkhabar.com/FrEn/lire.php?idc=52&ida=74510
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Libya to open up gas fields to foreigners
July 9, 2007

TRIPOLI -- Libya Sunday invited international tenders for exploration of its onshore and offshore gas fields covering an area almost the size of Scotland.

The National Oil Company is offering a dozen contracts to explore 41 gas blocks in the Mediterranean, the Sirte basin in the north-central area of the country, Cyrenaica further east, and Murzek and Ghdamess in the south.

The blocks cover a total of 72,500 square kilometers (almost 28,000 square miles), it said in a statement.

Details of the blocks, varying in size from 2,000 to 10,000 square kilometers will be presented to interested parties August 8 in Tripoli and August 15 in London, he added. Allocation of the blocks is expected in December.

Ghanem said that it is the fourth time that Libya has invited tenders for exploration of its vast hydrocarbon reserves, but the first time for natural gas exploitation.

OPEC member Libya is the African continent's second largest oil producer at 1.7 million barrels per day. It also has natural gas reserves estimated at 1,314 billion cubic meters (46,403 billion cubic feet).

Tripoli at the end of May signed a $900 million exploration deal with BP under which the British energy giant will explore an area of some 54,000 square kilometers primarily for gas, but also in the hope of finding oil. The agreement applies in the Sirte region and at Ghdamess.

With the end of UN sanctions after Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's dramatic decision in December 2003 to abandon weapons of mass destruction programs, oil and gas exploration in the North African country has picked up at a frenetic pace.

"It's a race for our black gold," Ghanem recently said. "We are organizing it like the Olympic Games and may the best one win."
http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070709-054257-8667r
... SharonB...