World Briefs (02/23/11)
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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- In a major concession to Algeria's opposition groups, the government on Tuesday adopted a measure that would lift a 19-year state of emergency that has constrained civil liberties and human rights in the North African oil exporter.
A draft law approved by the Cabinet would repeal the emergency law as soon as it is published in the government's official journal, the official Algerie Presse Service reported.
An opposition leader last week said he had been assured that the state of emergency would be lifted by the end of February.
The emergency measures, long lambasted by international human rights groups, have barred peaceful protests, limited constitutionally granted political freedoms and allowed for what many described as arbitrary detentions.
The strict conditions were imposed at the beginning of the country's decade-long civil war, which pitted Islamic militants against a military-dominated government that refused to abide by the results of a 1991 election that suggested Islamists would be ascendant. Tens of thousands died in the conflict.
JERUSALEM -- Two Iranian warships sailed from the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean on Tuesday, the first such trip in at least three decades, eliciting Israeli charges that Tehran is seeking to dominate the Middle East.
The vessels headed toward Syria, but were expected to remain in international waters as they passed the Israeli coast.
The voyage took the frigate Alvand and the supply Kharq close to NATO's southern flank and could further destabilize the Middle East, a region already reeling from an unprecedented wave of anti-government rebellions.
First Published February 23, 2011 12:00 am
