BERLIN: German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Monday urged his Algerian counterpart to pardon the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, who was given a five-year jail term in March for harming national unity.
Steinmeier’s office said he had asked Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to pardon Sansal as “a humanitarian gesture.”
“Given Sansal’s advanced age and fragile health condition” Steinmeier also “offered Sansal’s relocation to Germany and subsequent medical care in our country.”
“It would reflect my long-standing personal relationship with President Tebboune and the good relations between our countries.”
The Algerian presidency confirmed that Steinmeier has asked Tebboune to pardon the writer as a “humanitarian gesture” — and the request was also reported on Algerian television.
According to observers in Algeria, the fact that both the president’s office and public television are echoing Steinmeier’s request can be seen as a positive sign for Sansal.
Paris has also called on Algeria to show leniency to Sansal and the writer’s conviction has further strained tense France-Algeria relations.
The writer’s family has highlighted his treatment for prostate cancer.
A prize-winning figure in North African modern francophone literature, Sansal is known for his criticism of Algerian authorities as well as of Islamists.
The case arose after Sansal told the far-right outlet Frontieres that France had unjustly transferred Moroccan territory to Algeria during the colonial period from 1830 to 1962 — a claim Algeria views as a challenge to its sovereignty and that aligns with longstanding Moroccan territorial assertions.
German president asks Algeria to pardon writer Boualem Sansal
https://arab.news/8fxan
German president asks Algeria to pardon writer Boualem Sansal
- Sansal was given a five-year jail term in March for “harming national unity”
Blair dropped from Gaza ‘peace board’ after Arab objections
- Former UK PM was viewed with hostility over role in Iraq War
- He reportedly met Netanyahu late last month to discuss plans
LONDON: Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has been withdrawn from the US-led Gaza “peace council” following objections by Arab and Muslim countries, The Guardian reported.
US President Donald Trump has said he would chair the council. Blair was long floated for a prominent role in the administration, but has now been quietly dropped, according to the Financial Times.
Blair had been lobbying for a position in the postwar council and oversaw a plan for Gaza from his Tony Blair Institute for Global Change that involved Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.
Supporters of the former British leader cited his role in the Good Friday Agreement, which ended decades of conflict and violence in Northern Ireland.
His detractors, however, highlighted his former position as representative of the Middle East Quartet, made up of the UN, EU, Russia and US, which aimed to bring about peace in the Middle East.
Furthermore, Blair’s involvement in the Iraq War is viewed with hostility across the Arab world.
After Trump revealed his 20-point plan to end the Israel-Hamas war in September, Blair was the only figure publicly named as taking a potential role in the postwar peace council.
The US president supported his appointment and labeled him a “very good man.”
A source told the Financial Times that Blair’s involvement was backed by the US and Israel.
“The Americans like him and the Israelis like him,” the person said.
The US plan for Gaza was criticized in some quarters for proposing a separate Gaza framework that did not include the West Bank, stoking fears that the occupied Palestinian territories would become separate polities indefinitely.
Trump said in October: “I’ve always liked Tony, but I want to find out that he’s an acceptable choice to everybody.”
Blair is reported to have held an unpublicized meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late last month to discuss plans.
His office declined to comment to The Guardian, but an ally said the former prime minister would not be sitting on Gaza’s “board of peace.”
