Algeria vows to fight terrorism, extremism to the end: PM
Xinhua, July 5, 2015 Adjust font size:
Algeria is determined to continue its fight against terrorism and extremism, and yet will embrace those who lay down arms as part of the national reconciliation, Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal said on Saturday.
"Thanks to President Bouteflika's policy we have managed to achieve stability, security and national reconciliation, so we have to continue supporting this reconciliation, without giving up counter-terrorism policy," Sellal told reporters in an Algerian university in upper Algiers.
The prime minister further called for fighting "religious extremism" within the Algerian universities, "which have a key role to play in terms of maintaining the country's development and stability."
"Our religion is Islam but we are against all extremists," he said.
He further assumed that Algeria "has strong armed forces and a wise president taking care of the nation," saying that "the joint security forces are mobilized to combat all types of extremism and terrorism."
A senior military official last month revealed that some 17,000 armed militants have put down arms thanks to the nation's national reconciliation policy, which was initiated by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
The policy was aimed to bring to an end a decade of ravaging civil war that claimed the lives of thousands of people. Endit