The Algerian government will establish an Academy and a Supreme Council for the Berber language (Tamazight), as agreed in 2005 negotiations with the Archs Citizens' Movement.
Archs leader Belaid Abrika welcomed the decision, as did other leaders from the Berber movement. However, some expressed concern that the new institutes could be subject to political manipulation by the regime.
The status of Tamazight was a central issue in 2001 clashes between activists in the Kabylia region and the regime, which left more than 100 civilians dead.
The Archs movement is a grassroots organization that emerged in the course of that conflict.
Source: Liberte, Algeria, June 20, 2007; El-Khabar, Algeria, June 21, 2007
