INTERVIEW-Tunisia virus won't reach Algeria:presidential ally

Sun Jan 30, 2011 1:27pm GMT

[-] Text [+]

* Head of ruling party says government investing in people

* Algerian protesters don't have a political agenda, he says

* Says foreign direct investment is welcome

By Lamine Chikhi

ALGIERS, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Algeria will not be swamped by a wave of unrest spreading through Arab states because it is investing its energy revenues in improving peoples' lives, a senior ally of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika said.

Abdelaziz Belkhadem, head of Algeria's ruling FLN party and a cabinet minister, acknowledged the authorities could be doing more but said that, unlike in Egypt or Tunisia, Algerian protesters were not demanding a change of government.

Anger over freedoms and living conditions led to a change of leadership in Algeria's eastern neighbour Tunisia, while Egypt has been convulsed by protests. Ratings agency Standard & Poor's put Algeria among the countries that could be next.

"Protesters in Algeria want better social and economic conditions. They did not make political demands as is the case in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, and Jordan," Belkhadem told Reuters in an interview late on Saturday. Continued...

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