Algerian president awards Zidane top medal

ALGIERS, Dec 13 (Reuters) Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika awarded French footballer Zinedine Zidane the medal of national merit, the North African country's highest distinction of state, at a ceremony in Algiers today.

''Because you represent a model for Algerian youth, the President of the Republic has decided to award the medal of national merit,'' an official said during the ceremony in the Palace of the People, attended by government officials and former stars of Algerian football.

Zidane, visiting his family's homeland for the first time in 20 years, was warmly welcomed by a nation that has long seen him as an icon of success.

Yesterday he visited projects he helped fund to alleviate suffering following a 2003 earthquake in the Boumerdes region that killed 2,300 people.

The medal was awarded in ''recognition of the respect and admiration you have shown the Algerian people to which you belong,'' Bouteflika told Zidane, according to a government statement.

Zidane's Algerian parents moved in 1962 to the southern French city of Marseille, where he grew up.

Widely regarded as the finest footballer of his generation, Zidane retired from soccer after being sent off in July's World Cup final for head-butting Italy's Marco Materazzi. Italy won the final after a penalty shoot-out.

He has rarely visited Algeria, but he is seen by many here as a symbol of hope in a country where the jobless rate among people under 30 is estimated to be about 70 percent.

REUTERS DH BD2359