Algeria - Getting Around

Tourists may be restricted in their movements and either monitored or escorted by the military. Theoretically, tourists are permitted in Algiers, the highway leading to Oran, as well as Oran itself and other towns along the coast, including Tlemcen. The border area northeast of Nefta on the Tunisian border may also be accessible, as well. Restricted areas include a huge swath of real estate in the Grand Erg Occidental with El Golea as the nucleus.

If a journalist wants to visit another area of the country other than Algiers, travel is restricted to air (via the domestic carrier, Inter-Air Services), and the itinerary must be cleared by authorities beforehand. In all likelihood, travel outside Algiers will be with a police or military escort. Even with an armed escort, travel in the Algerian countryside is hazardous. Journalists are not permitted to freely report on the civil war. For journalists, the best advice is to conduct business in your hotel, and have your interview subjects visit you at the hotel. Journalists are monitored and are usually assigned police or military escorts. It is illegal to move outside Algiers without them. Permission for independent travel is rarely granted. Those who slip away from their escorts and travel outside Algiers will be deported.

The government has rigorously enforced a late-night curfew in the central region around Algiers. Roadblocks are located at most of the major intersections and many others. The government isn't the only one setting up the blocks. Fake roadblocks are also set up by the GIA and others for the purposes of robbery and murder. There has been a slew of robbery and assault incidents involving foreigners, especially in the far southern region of Algeria near the border with Niger. Algeria south of Tamanrasset is particularly dangerous.

The two routes south across the Sahara are closed (there is an alternate route through Mauritania to Senegal). Foreign oil workers in the south bypass the north altogether, flying directly into their installations and living in highly secured compounds. Control Risks Group, a business consultant to companies doing business in foreign countries, rates Algeria as the most dangerous place in the world to do business. About 2,000 French citizens, mostly businessmen and diplomatic staff, remain in the country.

You can visit with one of the FIS leader in America. Anwar N. Haddam, president of the FIS Parliamentary Delegation Abroad, is currently in prison in Manassas, Virginia. Call (703) 792-6420

DP's Tips on Surviving Algeria

1.The government of Algeria is not wild about tourists. Even accredited journalists will be allowed entry only after approval from Algiers.

2. All accredited journalists are met on arrival by a protection team supplied without charge by the government.

3. In Algiers, journos can only stay at the Hotel al-Jezzair call: [213] (2) 59-10-00 or the Hotel Aurassi call: [213] (2) 64-82-52. Both are guarded 24 hours a day.

4. During your stay, you will be escorted at all times by the "ninjas," black-uniformed security police. You will be driven to meetings and escorted back to your hotel. The teams only operate in Algiers. For trips outside the city, taxis can be hired for about $60 a day from your hotel.

5. Those who want to wander around town will be given walkie-talkies. Do not wear these conspicuously. Do not stay in one place any longer than ten minutes (the typical time it takes locals to alert GIA gunmen).

6. You will be allowed to walk around town unescorted or to leave Algiers only if you sign a disclaimer.

7. The most dangerous place in Algiers is the Kasbah. One Western journalist went there unprotected and was shot within five minutes.

8. If you are in Algiers, say hello to the U.S embassy staff-major consumers of DP T-shirts and stickers, as well as all-around good sports.

9. The police emergency telephone number is 17, and ambulance is 62-33-33.