Over 100 observers, 80 of them from the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) and the UN, will be in Algeria to monitor the presidential election to be held on 9 April, Algerian prime minister, Mr. Ahmed Ouyahia, said here Wednesday. Speaking on national radio, Ouyahia said that over 20 million voters had been registered to vote following the revision of the voters' register.

Algeria will write off 41 billion dinars in money owed banks by farmers and livestock breeders, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced Saturday (February 28th) at an agricultural conference in Biskra. The announcement is a real lifeline for an Algerian farming community on the verge of collapse. Starting this week, banks will cease any proceedings to recover their debts.

Trade and cultural exchanges will benefit from direct flights between Beijing and Algeria which started earlier this week. The inaugural flight landed in Beijing Capital International Airport in the early morning of February 23 after flying 11 hours from Algeria's capital Algiers. Previously, it took travelers at least 16 hours to get the other city, as they had to transfer flights.

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has said he will seek a third term in elections in April. "I announce my candidature as an independent," Mr Bouteflika told a crowd of cheering supporters in the capital Algiers. Mr Bouteflika is widely tipped to win the elections.

Debate is heating up in Algeria between clerics and human rights activists over a proposed ban on capital punishment in the country. Religious leaders accuse legislators of denying society a punitive measure prescribed in the Qur'an, while supporters of the ban believe the death penalty is a human rights issue and should not be approached from a religious or philosophical perspective.