Algeria activist: Saudi, UAE want us to abort popular movement

The founding member of the opposition Algerian Rashad movement, former diplomat Mohamed Larbi Zitout accused Saudi Arabia and the UAE of working to thwart the popular movement demanding President Abdelaziz Bouteflika not to run for a fifth presidential term.

“Saudi Arabia and the UAE stand against the Algerian people’s aspirations and want to destroy their revolution and spread chaos in the country, as they did in Libya, Egypt and Syria,” Zitout told Al-Khaleej Online on Sunday.

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“The rulers of Saudi Arabia and the UAE are at the heart of the counterrevolution, and they have destroyed popular uprisings in a number of Arab countries whose people wanted to rise up against injustice and tyranny, because they know that any popular system will bring them down, because they exist without a popular base,” Zitout said.

He pointed out that the Algerian people began to mention Saudi Arabia and the UAE in public, so they have to retreat and move away from Algeria, adding “we want to determine our own destiny, and we do not want anyone to attack us”.

Who’s really in charge in Algeria – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]