Bouteflika defies terrorists with Lakhdaria visit

28/07/2008

Days after a suicide bomber rammed his motorbike into a military truck in Lakhdaria, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika inaugurated several projects in the region.

By Said Jameh for Magharebia in Algiers – 28/07/08

[Getty Images] Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika reportedly visited the Bouira province on Sunday (July 27th) in a show of defiance against terrorists who targeted the region last week.

In the wake of last week's suicide attack in Lakhdaria, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflik visited the region on Sunday (July 27th) to express solidarity with local residents and draw attention to provincial accomplishments.

The president's visit proceeded without incident. He supervised the launch of various local projects and celebrated the opening of a local dam and the Oued Rekham viaduct, now Africa's tallest bridge.

Journalists who made the trip to Bouira province with Bouteflika and refused to disclose their identities commented that the visit took place under normal conditions. They told Magharebia, however, that officials had cancelled a number of stops for the president, all in downtown Bouira, to avoid unforeseen incidents.

One day before the visit, Echorouk reported that more than 10,000 police, gendarmerie and other security officers had been dispatched to handle security arrangements and prevent any disruptions during the presidential tour.

Interior Minister Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni said during the visit that an additional 9.7m dinars have been earmarked for public works, housing, sports and agricultural development in Bouira.

He said also that true objective of the visit was to express "the support and solidarity of the higher authorities in the state with residents of Lakhdaria after the terrorist operation perpetrated last Wednesday [July 23rd]".

A suicide attacker, believed to be 30 years of age, rammed his motorbike into a military truck last week, killing himself and wounding ten military personnel.

The operation was the first to see the use of a motorcycle instead of an automobile or explosive belt.

The attack was near a military barracks where eight soldiers were killed by a suicide bomber on July 11th, 2007.

The forests around Lakhdaria are known for hosting key strongholds of al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, led by Abdelmalek Droukdel.

Zerhouni, who met the press at the site of the attack in Lakhdaria, explained that investigations are still under way.

Police agencies have still not been able to identify the perpetrator , Zerhounis said, because "his body parts were blown off by the blast, with only the head left".

The interior minister suggested that the terrorists' use of a motorcycle shows they are growing weaker and fewer in numbers, thanks to the intensified security measures applied by security forces after the April 11th, 2007 bombings that targeted the cabinet.

"This new technique," Zerhouni said, "was adopted by terrorists in an attempt to introduce new means of taking security forces by surprise. But their attempt was a failure."

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast, though al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb is the government's prime suspect.

Echorouk on Sunday suggested that al-Qaeda "did not claim responsibility for the operation because it did not bear fruit".