Algeria requests postponement of pan-Arab games

Algerian minister of youth and sports, Mohammed Allalou, officially requested on Friday the postponement to next year of the 10th pan-Arab games, following the earthquake that rocked Algeria.

Allalou told the Algerian National Radio "measures were taken to put off the games," initially scheduled September 1-15.

The minister said the organizing committee on Friday started talks with Arab officials to notify them of the postponement, adding that "Arab sportsmen can not take part in the games while Algeria is going through a national catastrophe."

Head of the organizing committee, Jaafar Yaffseh, had said in a statement published Wednesday by the Emirates' daily "Akhbar Al Arab" the event would be maintained on its initial date, denying rumors that it would be put off or transferred to another Arab country.