CAIRO: An angry Algerian mob attacked the offices of Egyptian telecommunications group Orascom in Algiers, which was filled with Egyptian employees, after their national football team lost to Egypt in the World Cup qualifiers on Saturday.
The police transported the employees and their families to safety. But news agency Agence France-Presse reported that all flats in their residence were ransacked and a car was set on fire.
More than 70,000 mobile phones with a value of five million dollars were destroyed or stolen, Orascom Telecoms Algerie (OTA) communications chief Hamid Grine told AFP. He said between 3,000 and 5,000 rioters were involved.
The rally in central Algiers began with fans chanting One, two, three, Go Algeria! as they thronged Air Algeria s city-center offices trying to get tickets to travel to Sudan for the World Cup football qualifying match against Egypt in Khartoum on Wednesday.
The Algerian press reported on Saturday that a crowd attacked homes of Egyptian workers at M sila, in southeastern Algeria, after the media showed pictures of injured Algerian players in Egypt.
The Algerian national football team was allegedly attacked on Thursday by Egyptian fans who pelted a bus they were on with stones. However, some Egyptian press reports claimed the attack was staged.
Algerian and Egyptian football fans have a long history of violence. In 1989, when both teams also faced-off for a World Cup qualifier, riots marred Egypt’s victory. Algerian player Lakhdar Belloumi was tried and sentenced to prison in Egypt for injuring the Egyptian team’s doctor with a bottle after the match.
Twenty Algerians were injured in clashes in and around Cairo after Saturday s first round match, according to Egyptian police.
In related news, security at the Egyptian consulate in France was boosted and 600 police officers were dispatched as a result of clashes in France’s southern port of Marseille.
Algerian press reports alleged that an Algerian man died in clashes with Egyptians after the match. However, the Algerian Ambassador in Egypt Abdul-Qader Haggar denied on Sunday claims about deaths among Algerian fans in Cairo Stadium in a statement to Radio Algeria Internationale.
Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif called his Algerian counterpart on Sunday to appeal for the Algerian government to protect Egyptians in the country, Egypt s official news agency MENA reported. -Additional reporting by AFP.
