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Obama praises Algeria for lifting state of emergency

25 February 2011 03:59 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. President Barack Obama commended Algeria for lifting a 19-year-old state of emergency, calling it a "positive sign" the government was responding to its people’s aspirations, APA reports quoting news.yahoo.com website.
Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika ordered the emergency measure to be lifted following unprecedented protests last month against a background of popular revolts sweeping the Arab world.
In a statement released by the White House, Obama called the move "an important step forward."
"This is a positive sign that the government of Algeria is listening to the concerns and responding to the aspirations of its people, and we look forward to additional steps by the government that enable the Algerian people to fully exercise their universal rights, including freedom of expression, association and assembly," he said.
Obama said the United States looked forward to continued cooperation with the Algerian government but would also continue to speak up for "universal freedoms, justice and the dignity of every human being.
The state of emergency was imposed in Algeria in 1992 after Islamists launched a guerrilla war following the cancellation of local election results in 1991 that would have given the majority to the now-dissolved Islamic Salvation Front.
Despite lifting the emergency measure, the government indicated that the army will continue to fight armed extremists.