CAIRO — French nationals are leaving ahead of a threatened Al Qaida offensive in
Algeria.
Algerian and French sources reported that dependents of French nationals
were fleeing Algeria. The sources said the
families of the French employees in Algeria were urged to depart by French
companies and the government in Paris.
"It's become clear that French nationals have become the key target of
Al Qaida," a French diplomatic source said. "There's no reason for more of
our nationals to be here than absolutely necessary."
The sources said about 100 French dependents have returned to Paris over
the last two months. They said they included employees of major French
companies that operate in Algeria.
On Oct. 6, Algeria's Al Khabar daily reported that dependents of
employees of France's Michelin were leaving Algeria amid the Al Qaida
offensive. Michelin has confirmed that the families of an unspecified number
of employees have returned to France.
Al Qaida has called for attacks against French and Spanish interests in
North Africa. On Sept. 21, the new Al Qaida Organization in the Islamic
Maghreb bombed a police convoy that accompanied a bus of foreign workers.
Nine people, including two French and one Italian, were injured in the
Al Qaida bombing. The injured Europeans were identified as workers at Houari
Boumediene Airport in Algiers.
France has sought to become a leading supplier of military and security
equipment to Algeria. Algiers has been a major supplier of natural gas to
Europe.
Analysts said the Al Qaida campaign could eventually force French and
other Western companies out of Algeria. They said the insurgency strikes
could also harm the economic reforms by the government of President Abdel
Aziz Bouteflika.
In 2006, Algeria garnered $1.5 billion in direct foreign investments, a
30 percent increase over the previous year. The increase was in contrast to
a decline in foreign investments in neighboring Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia.
