LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — It is difficult to pinpoint exactly when Algeria felt at home in the small college town home to the University of Kansas.Might have been when 500 people showed up at the airport to welcome its national team for the World Cup. Or when players for The Fennecs saw the giant Algerian flag that local artist Stan Herd had crafted of mulch and sand. Or maybe when members of the school’s marching band took the time to learn “Kassaman,” the anthem of the north African nation.“Respect,” Algeria captain and Manchester City player Riyad Mahrez told the people of Lawrence, shortly before Lionel Messi scored a hat trick and Argentina beat them 3-0 last week to start the tournament, “and thank you so much for the welcome.”Yet the feel-good story of a town and a team comes at a complex time for Algeria. More than 5,000 miles from the World Cup, human rights advocates say, authorities have been cracking down on protests, social media and other forms of public dissent.
That includes the detention of French journalist Christophe Gleizes on what critics call trumped-up charges of “advocacy of terrorism.”
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