Guest yesterday of the 5th edition of the Forum of the Algeria press service agency (APS), dedicated to “The central place of Algeria in Africa”, Noureddine Djoudi, mujahid, former diplomat and president of the International Association of Friends of the Algerian Revolution, maintained that “Algerian diplomacy has regained, under the leadership of President Tebboune, its performance and its historical place, faithful to its intangible principles of defense of just causes.”
He recalled, in this regard, that the President of the Republic “has endeavored through his orientations to strengthen Algeria’s African belonging, through the activation of diplomatic action in order to enable Algeria to regain its natural place in Africa as an essential and strategic party.
The strengthening of this belonging “materialized on several levels, in particular through support for development projects in different brotherly African countries via the Algerian Agency for International Cooperation for Solidarity and Development and the realization of real integrated infrastructural projects at the regional and continental level,” he said.
Furthermore, what Algeria is doing today as a non-permanent member of the Security Council marks the “return in force” of Algerian diplomacy to the forefront of the international scene, based on its conviction that “the defense of just causes is a noble principle from which Algeria will never deviate,” observed Mr. Djoudi, noting the unprecedented dynamism that Algeria has given to the Security Council.
The guest of the APS Forum explained, in the process, that the voice of Algeria in the Security Council represents “the voice of all of Africa and of all Arab countries”, stressing that the Algeria “defends humanist values, the right to life and the principles of justice and peace, through tireless work in favor of the consecration of the right to freedom for all African peoples, particularly the Sahrawi people.”
Defend people’s right to freedom
Mr. Djoudi also mentioned, in his speech, an aspect of the history of Algerian diplomacy, which remains, he said, “faithful to its principles based on support for just causes and the right of peoples to self-determination. Algerian diplomacy has always been “a weapon to defend the identity and principles of the country and the right of people to freedom and dignity,” he stressed.
Noting that current diplomacy was “closely linked” to the “diplomacy of the Revolution”, which “carried the voice of Algeria in international forums and highlighted its identity and the authenticity of its people”, Mr. Djoudi recalled that in addition to “arms and the mobilization of the people throughout the country, the National Liberation Revolution placed diplomatic action at the heart of its priorities.”
The former diplomat thus mentioned the importance of “international solidarity” with Algeria at the time in the face of French propaganda, which made international public opinion believe that Algeria was “a inseparable part of France. And to explain that to counter this propaganda, the action of the diplomacy of the Revolution was carried out in several capitals of the world, with the aim of showing that the National Liberation Army (ALN) was “composed of mujahideen and revolutionaries and not brigands as the colonizer conveyed.
Referring to the post-independence period, Mr. Djoudi underlined the attachment of the late President Houari Boumediene to the “Arab and African dimensions of Algeria”, welcoming his commitment in terms of “support provided to the struggle of peoples under the colonial yoke and under apartheid. He recalled, in this regard, that South African leader Nelson Mandela said he was inspired by the values of the Algerian struggle in his fight against the apartheid regime in his country.
Indeed, Algerian diplomacy has always inspired the various liberation movements in Africa and around the world, and, faithful to its principles, it defends, today, the right of peoples to self-determination, in the image of the people Sahrawi, argued the former diplomat, saying he was proud of the current role of Algerian diplomacy in the Security Council in favor of the Palestinian people.
The mujahid also insisted on the role incumbent on the national media in defending the interests and positions of Algeria, particularly in the face of “the current unprecedented disinformation on a global scale”, welcoming, in this regard, “ the central and important role” of the APS in this media battle.
