A leader of Algeria's Berber minority said yesterday he believed a new peace plan would finally end years of unrest in the Kabylie region, but that details still needed to be ironed out. Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia brokered an accord with tribal leaders late on Saturday, which includes recognizing their language and investing in the long neglected northeastern region where most of them live.| My breath is fair taken away... |
Abrika said the details of how Tamazight would be made an official language alongside Arabic were not specifically addressed. "We didn't raise this question. We discussed the platform as a whole," he said. A year ago talks broke down when the government demanded the Tamazight question be put before a national referendum — a condition tribal leaders opposed. Another key part of the plan is to boost financial aid to Kabylie where years of economic neglect have led to high unemployment. Speaking late on Saturday, Ouyahia said agreement had been reached on the so-called El-Kseur platform, which includes economic demands and recognition of the language spoken by the ethnic Berbers who live mainly in the northeastern Kabylie region. "We agreed to implement together the El-Kseur platform," said Ouyahia, after a deal whose content remains kept largely under wraps by officials but has been welcomed by a wide spectrum of the North African country's private press. The Berbers are the original inhabitants of North Africa before the Arab invasion in the 7th century. Algeria's Berbers, who make up a fifth of the country's 32 million people, complain of discrimination by the Arab majority.