Algerian prisoners in Iraq to be set free any time soon

The Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Abdelhamid Senouci Berkesi, tackled on Monday in Algiers with the visiting Iraqi Foreign Ministry’s Secretary General for bilateral affairs, Nezar Kheir Allah, the lingering issue related to the fate of the Algerian detainees now held in Iraqi jails, in a bold step toward wrapping up this vexed file that has been outstanding for over 12 years now.

Sources from the Foreign Ministry told “Echorouk” that the Algiers meeting was held specifically to address the long-standing Algerian prisoners’ file in Iraq, and to discuss proper arrangements for their early repatriation to Algeria, after the agreement by the parties concerned to halt executions of some Algerian detainees accused of terrorism activities, a charge they strongly deny.

The same sources further suggested that the release of the imprisoned Algerians in Iraq could be a matter of days only, in the wake of the signing by the two sides of a memorandum on judicial cooperation between the two countries which will allow the Baghdad authorities to extradite foreign convicts to their home countries.

In a press statement, the visiting Iraqi official said that “Iraq has a keen interest in the survival of the Algerian prisoners incarcerated in Iraq but that the country is passing through a delicate and difficult political situation due to the open war against terrorism and the organized terrorist groups linked to “Daesh” (ISIS) which came from more than 80 countries to destroy the cities and the millenary civilization of Iraq”, as he put it.

After expressing his country’s willingness to “exchange the experiences and information with Algeria,” the Iraqi official underlined the existence of new prospects of bilateral cooperation in different fields, notably in terms of fight against terrorism.

The current situation in Iraq and Syria “allowed the world to become aware of the danger of extremist thoughts and terrorism which doesn’t distinguish between peoples, religions and nations,” he said, stressing that fighting terrorism “requires a regional and international cooperation.”

The Iraqi official also evoked the possibility for an Algerian delegation to visit the detainees to check on their status, expressing his understanding of “the unabated popular pressure” caused by the fate of the Algerian detainees whose number is at least seven, he indicated.