Bouteflika excludes freeing chief of Islamic Salvation Front

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika excluded the immediate release of Abbas Madani and Ali Beljaj, the two highest-ranking leaders in the Islamic Salvation Front, despite the pardon he issued for the strict Islamists in Algeria. Abbas Madani lives under house arrest while Baljaj is still in prison.

Bouteflika added in statments to Radio France Internationale that he currently intends to lift the state of emergency imposed on Algeria in 1992.