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| Man tries to set himself on fire at Algeria protest Posted: 06 Feb 2011 06:39 AM PST ALGIERS (Reuters) - An Algerian man doused himself with fuel and tried to set himself on fire on Sunday during a small protest outside a government ministry in the capital to demand more jobs. Algerian opposition groups, inspired by uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, say they will force the government to quit, but analysts say a revolt is unlikely because officials can use revenue from energy exports to soothe most grievances. During the protest outside the employment ministry building involving about 30 people, a man arrived, poured fuel over himself from a jerry can and then tried to ignite it with a cigarette lighter. A journalist standing nearby wrestled the man to the floor before he could set fire to himself, said a Reuters cameraman who was at the protest. The man was later escorted inside the ministry building by police. A wave of protests in neighbouring Tunisia which forced out President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali last month was started by a young unemployed man setting himself on fire in an act of protest at his treatment by the authorities. Since then, there has been a series of self-immolations around the Arab world, including several in Algeria. JOBLESS RATE According to official figures, Algeria's unemployment rate is around 10 percent, while joblessness among the young is more than twice that figure. "What are those people at the top doing? They do not have the right to be there," said Abdu Bendjoudi, one of the organisers of Sunday's protest. "If the government does not make an effort in this sense (to reduce unemployment), catastrophe approaches. What happened in Egypt and Tunisia risks coming here today." Energy exporter Algeria has about $150 billion in foreign currency reserves, almost no external debt, and forecasts economic growth of 4 percent in 2011. But the economy, dominated by the oil and gas sector, produces too few jobs. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, seeking to prevent opposition calls for protests from building momentum, promised last week more democratic freedoms and ordered the government to adopt new job-creation measures. A coalition of civil society groups, some trade unionists and small political parties said they did not trust Bouteflika's promises, and would be going ahead with a planned protest rally in the capital on Feb. 12. (Additional reporting by Abdelaziz Boumzar; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by David Stamp) Copyright © 2011 Reuters |
| Two Americans deny spy charges in Iranian court Posted: 06 Feb 2011 06:09 AM PST TEHRAN (Reuters) - Two Americans held in Iran for the last 18 months on suspicion of espionage pleaded not guilty in court on Sunday on the first day of their closed-door trial, state television reported. Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal were arrested on July 31, 2009 near Iran's border with Iraq, along with a third American, Sarah Shourd, who was released on $500,000 bail in September and returned home. The trio, in their late 20s and early 30s, say they were hiking in the mountains of northern Iraq and, if they crossed the unmarked border into Iran, it was by mistake. Under Iranian law, espionage can carry the death penalty. State-run English language Press TV said the two men had appeared in court but that Shourd, who had been summoned, did not. All three pleaded not guilty of espionage and illegal entry, Press TV said. No date has been set for the trial to resume, it added. The proceedings were closed to the public and press. The affair has compounded tension between Tehran and Washington, which have had no diplomatic relations since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the subsequent storming of the U.S. embassy by revolutionary students. A trial date set for last November was postponed at the last minute due to the absence of Shourd, who has met President Barack Obama and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the United States since her release. Press TV quoted the Tehran prosecutor's office as saying "it has 'compelling evidence' that three were cooperating with U.S. intelligence agencies". The defence lawyer, who was barred from seeing his clients for four months before the day of their trial, said he was confident the spying charge would be shown to be baseless and even charges of illegal entry into Iran could be beaten. "I have studied all the details and I am sure that my clients are not guilty and the espionage charge does not have any substance," Masoud Shafii told Reuters before the trial. "Even if the illegal entry happened, due to the fact that the border is not signposted and they could not have recognised it; even if it did happen, they are not at fault," he said. (Editing by Mark Heinrich) Copyright © 2011 Reuters |
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