The dishonest intentions of the persons in charge of British Gas are now confirmed. After having promised, at a meeting last week with the National Support Committee to Algerian workers (CNSTA), to pay damages to Meryem Mehdi, we learn from an official statement made public yesterday by the SNAPAP women's committee that the company has retreated from its engagements: "We learn this morning from Mrs. Meryem Mehdi's lawyer that British Gas has quit negotiations after approaching the latter with a proposition to arrange the situation", says the official statement.
Following this renouncement, SNAPAP women's committee, as a representative of Mrs. Mehdi, dismisses any account related by BG of an opening in negotiations since anything official has still to reach them. Unfortunately this occurs, according to SNAPAP, under the eyes of the government: "It is the Labour Minister who announced to us, BG's intention to negotiate during a meeting with representatives of the CNSTA", they say, angrily, before reiterating the critical state of health of the hunger striker.
On this point, the official statement stresses that Mrs. Mehdi has issued instructions giving up on all drugs prescribed by her doctors as well as glucose perfusions, salted or enriched in amino-acids and other nutritional elements which helped her hold on until now. Her state of health is very critical.
"Her family, her friends, her doctors and her support committee can only help her through actions to denounce the neo-colonial attitude of British Gas and try to reverse the status-quo. We know her claims are legitimate", they say.
Irritated by the absence of government reaction and the complete silence of the heads of state, SNAPAP's women's committee indicates that Meryem Mehdi is determined to fight to the end. "[She] is determined to prove to Algerian heads of state, to British Gas Algeria and to the whole international community that her only goal was to denounce the practices of foreign multinational companies behaving as though they were in conquered territories, the owners of law", the document concludes.
Let us note finally that Meryem Mehdi is on hunger strike since the 8th of December, 2009, protesting against her abusive dismissal by the persons in charge of the British Gas company. Yesterday, she completed her 52nd day of hunger strike.

Translation of an article by Maklouf Ait Ziane pour "La Tribune des Lecteurs" - 31 janvier 2010 http://www.tribune-lecteurs.com/event.html