U.S. democracy help? no thanks, says Algeria

[NNN0LHI]

What? They don't want Junior to liberate them too? Jeez. I wonder why?

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L07250605.htm

ALGIERS, April 7 (Reuters) - Muslim Algeria, left on its own to face a brutal Islamic holy war in the 1990s, needs no help from abroad to achieve democracy, a senior government official said on Wednesday.

Algeria votes for a new president on Thursday in elections seen as the freest since winning independence from France in 1962 in a war that left 1.5 million Algerians dead.

"From Ottoman to French colonialisation, to 30 years of one-party rule, to a decade of brutal terrorism means democracy isn't achieved overnight," Communication and Culture Minister Khalida Toumi told Reuters in an interview.

"(But) I am proud to say that on Islamic soil we can have democracy," said the former militant, who survived a bomb attack 10 years ago and refused to give in to rebels despite daily death threats from them.more