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ALGIERS, April 16 (KUNA) -- Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika
inaugurated Saturday evening the celebration to commemorate "Tlemcen capital
of Islamic culture 2011" in the presence of 15 cabinet members and
representatives of eight regional and international organizations, and 25
countries.
Assistant Secretary-General of the National Council for Culture, Arts and
Letters (NCCAL) of Abdulhadi Al-Ajmi leads Kuwait delegation to the event.
The grand celebration, held on Latta Setti plateau, downtown Tlemcen, west
Algeria, gathered dozens of members of the diplomatic corps in the country and
foreign guests and local public figures including former president Ahmad Ben
Bella.
Director-General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (ISESCO) Dr. Abdulaziz Othman Al-Twaijri and Algerian Minister of
Culture Khalida Toumi are addressing the opening ceremony.
The activities were unofficially opened last night in a popular celebration
with 57 local and foreign troupes offering artistic performances.
However, Morocco's Bensalem Himmich who led his country delegation to the
unofficial celebration boycotted the official inauguration of the event in
protest against the presence of representative of the Western Sahara.
Several Arab and Muslim delegates to the event voiced resentment at the
presence of the so-called Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) which is
only recognized by Algeria, a Moroccan diplomat told Magreb Arabe Presse (MAP).
The SADR is a member of the African Union (AU) but not a member of the
ISESCO, Morocco's news agency quoted the source as saying.
The North African country quit the AU in 1982 in protest against granting
membership of the union to the disputed territory. (end)
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