Algiers - Algerian authorities, in a rare show of openness, said yesterday they were investigating the fate of hundreds of people reported missing by their families. "The total number of petitions received by the (government) offices until today of persons declared missing by their families reached 1,735," the interior ministry said in a statement carried by the official APS news agency.
Algerian authorities have in the past refused to discuss the issue, insisting that many of those reported missing had joined the rebels or fled the country.