Algeria offers 30,000 lands to angry residents in Ghardaia

The government will distribute 30,000 lands for self-construction on all the municipalities in the province of Ghardaia (south of Algeria) and assigned the national solidarity ministry to compensate people who underwent damages following riots.

Earlier on Thursday, the Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal received representatives from Ibadit and Malikites sects in Ghardaia who entered in clashes.

According to sources, Sellal decided to distribute the 30,000 lands equally to the two sects.

Many houses and shops were damaged because of recent clashes among residents. Sellal asked them to “look forward and forget the past.”

The meeting with Ibadits and Malikites came up with a number of decisions meant to restore calm in Ghardaia. A “wise council” is expected to be created in concerned municipalities for arbitration and reconciliation.

The representatives committed to make more efforts to overcome disputes and have friendly relations, according to the same sources.

Earlier, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika held a cabinet meeting and talked to Sellal and the interior minister about the crisis in Ghardaia. He expressed dissatisfaction over the way local authorities managed it.