Egyptian telecoms firm Orascom said its subsidiary in Algeria has now paid authorities there a total of $587m in tax arrears and most of a $74m fine, AP has reported. The parent company said in a statement however that it had decided to suspend the rest of the penalty owed by Orascom Telecom Algeria until a ruling on the claim. Algerian tax authorities demanded the payments in November last year after a 2005 to 2007 audit found it had earned $5.25bn, an amount $830,000 more than it had declared, the AP report said.