Moroccan Amazighs detained at Algiers airport
2008-10-31
Some 35 Moroccan Amazighs arrested upon arrival at Algiers airport Wednesday remain confined to the airport's international zone by Algerian security forces, Le Matin reported on Friday (October 31st). The detainees, including the president of Morocco's Amazigh Democratic Party, reportedly had their passports confiscated. They have threatened to launch a hunger strike.
Activists, journalists and lawyers who converged upon the airport to offer assistance were turned away by a large contingent of security officers. Algeria called the entry of the Moroccan Amazighs "illegal" and stopped all flights between Algeria and Morocco until Saturday.
The World Congress – originally scheduled to convene in Kabylie in July – was officially relocated to Morocco after Algerian authorities denied permission to the group. The Moroccan delegation now being held in Algiers was bound for an Amazigh gathering in Tizi-Ouzou timed to coincide with the 5th Amazigh World Congress, which is running in Meknès, Morocco through November 2nd.
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