Algerian Islamist MPs lose battle over alcohol

ALGIERS - Islamist parties failed to push through the Algerian parliament a proposal to ban alcohol throughout the country.

Islamist members of parliament took advantage of a vote on a draft 2006 budget to propose amendments to end alcohol imports, ban all sales, and to shut breweries and transform them into soft drinks and mineral water plants.

"The majority of members in the assembly rejected the amendments over alcohol," said Abdelkader Bouchouarebi, president of parliament's legal affairs committee.

"The proposals are contrary to the principle of free trade and Algeria's international commitments."

Algeria, an oil-producing country, needs to open up its US$90 billion (NZ$131.4 billion) economy to foreign markets if it is to gain World Trade Organisation (WTO) membership. It hopes to wrap up admission talks next year.

Authorities have fought a decade-long war against fundamentalists bent on creating a purist Islamic state. Alcohol is unavailable in much of the country.

Since his re-election in 2004, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has liberalised the economy in the hope of attracting foreign investors after a decade of isolation.

Algeria has reached a trade agreement with the European Union, paving the way for lifting customs barriers gradually.

- REUTERS