Interior Ministry orders Wilayas to count pieds noirs' properties

A document issued by the wilaya of Algiers, showed that the Interior Ministry, issued a statement ordering its services count properties of the pieds noirs in Algeria, in a sign that this issue will be at the forefront of the files to be discussed by President Bouteflika with his French counterpart, Francois Hollande, in the upcoming month.

This document, which is a telegram that was addressed by authorities in Algiers , for administrative services that are affiliate to it, on the orders of the Interior Ministry, was sent in urgency, on the ninth of this month, obliging them to inform the interior ministry when the work is done within fourdays, ending on the twelfth of this month, as reported the daily French-speaking “Al-Watan” on Sunday.

The document read: “Depending on the cable N° 3176 dated on November 08, 2012, received by our services from the Interior Ministry, on Real estate Properties of the French nationals in Algeria, I am honored to ask you to provide us with all the information related to these properties on the schedule annexed to this telegraph, and this before November 12, 2012, at 12 o’clock, it is very important and urgent”.

It is clear from the text of the telegram that the Interior Ministry, requested a census of all real properties that still have the names of pieds noires, but did not talk about the purpose behind the statistics, which seems that it came too late, and is likely to be related to the complaints that are filed to Justice by French nationals against Algerian nationals, whether they are natural or legal persons for retrieving their properties in Algeria, under various grounds, including non-payment of leasing dues, or selling them to other people illegaly, as alleged by the French complaints.

Despite the fact that this issue took political dimensions at the level of France, and media at the local level, but the instruction of the Interior Ministry, is the first official document that was reported by media, but the highest Algerian official who spoke about this issue, is the Interior Miniter Dahou Ould Kablia, who was forced to do so, and that was during a visit with his French counterpart Manuel Valls, last October, in response to his French counterpart, who considered the case a “problem”.