Shock at expulsion of all visiting correspondents

Reporters Without Borders said it was "stunned" by the decision of the Algerian authorities today to expel foreign correspondents who had come specially to cover yesterday's release from prison of two historic leaders of the banned Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), Abassi Madani and Ali Belhadj. The decision came after the communication ministry yesterday told visiting correspondents and foreign reporters based in the country that they were strictly forbidden from reporting the release of the two FIS leaders. Visiting correspondents were confined to their hotels last night. Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Robert Ménard said the organisation "strongly condemned" the collective expulsion of journalists who had come to cover "an important event in Algeria's political life." "Algeria will not solve the problem of Islamist terrorism by burying its head in the sand," Ménard warned, describing the measures as "outright censorship." The Algerian regime was unable to learn the lessons of the past and continued to rule with a heavy hand, he said. References to a threat to the state's sovereignty were "grotesque," Ménard said. "No one can take such arguments seriously," he added.