PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Algeria next week in a bid to improve strained ties between Paris and Algiers, the French presidency said in a statement Saturday.
“This trip will contribute to deepening the bilateral relationship looking to the future... to reinforce Franco-Algerian cooperation in the face of regional challenges and to continue the work of addressing the past,” the presidency said after a call between Macron and his opposite number Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
Macron is to be in Algeria from Thursday to Saturday next week.
French-Algerian ties hit a low late last year after Macron reportedly questioned whether Algeria had existed as a nation before the French invasion and accused its “political-military system” of rewriting history and fomenting “hatred toward France.”
Algeria withdrew its ambassador in response, but the two sides appear to have mended ties since.
The North African country won its independence from France following a gruelling eight-year war, which ended with the signing in March 1962 of the Evian Accords.
On July 5 of the same year, days after 99.72 percent voted for independence in a referendum, Algeria finally broke free from colonial rule — but memories of the 132-year occupation continue to haunt its ties with France.
French president to visit Algeria to relaunch ties: Elysee
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French president to visit Algeria to relaunch ties: Elysee
- “This trip will contribute to deepening the bilateral relationship looking to the future," the presidency
- Macron is to be in Algeria from Thursday to Saturday next week
Morocco deploys army to help evacuate thousands after floods
- More than 20,000 people had been moved to shelter and camps by Saturday
- Authorities set up sandbags and temporary barriers in flood-prone districts as waters began to recede
RABAT: Morocco has deployed army rescue units to help with the evacuation of thousands of people after floods triggered by torrential rains and rising river levels hit parts of the country’s northwest, state TV reported on Saturday.
Weeks of heavy rainfall, combined with water releases from a nearly full dam nearby, increased water levels in the Loukous River and flooded several neighborhoods in the city of Ksar Kbir, about 190 km (118 miles) north of the capital Rabat, a national flood follow-up committee said.
More than 20,000 people had been moved to shelter and camps by Saturday, official media reported.
Authorities set up sandbags and temporary barriers in flood-prone districts as waters began to recede.
Schools in Ksar Kbir have been ordered to remain closed until February 7 as a precaution.
In the nearby province of Sidi Kacem, the Sebou River’s rising levels prompted evacuations from several villages as authorities raised vigilance levels.
The abundant rainfall ended a seven-year drought that drove the country to invest heavily in desalination plants.
The average dam-filling rate has risen to 60 percent, with several major reservoirs reaching full capacity, according to official data.
Last month, 37 people were killed in flash floods in the Atlantic coastal city of Safi, south of Rabat.
