Algeria sees state of emergency over in days

Reuters – Algerian policemen try to take away a banner from anti-government protesters during a demonstration in …

• Slideshow:Algeria protests

– 52 mins ago

PARIS (Reuters) – The 19-year-old state of emergency in Algeria will end within days, Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci said on Monday, brushing off concerns that recent protests in the country could escalate as in Tunisia and Egypt.

A state of emergency has been in force in Algeria since 1992 and the government has come under pressure from opponents, inspired by uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, to ditch emergency laws.

Several hundred protesters took to the streets in the capital Algiers on Saturday and opposition groups said they would demonstrate every weekend until the government is changed.

"In the coming days, we will talk about (the state of emergency) as if it was a thing of the past," Medelci told the French radio station Europe 1 in an interview.

"That means that in Algeria we will have a return to a state of law that allows complete freedom of expression, within the limits of the law," he said.

Recent protests had been organized by minority groups with limited support, the minister said, adding that there was no risk of a government overthrow as in neighboring Tunisia.

However, he suggested the government may be willing to make concessions, saying: "The decision to change the government lies with the president who will assess the possibility, as he has done in the past, to make adjustments, as he has done in the past."

"Algeria is not Tunisia or Egypt," he added.

The resignation on Friday of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and last month's overthrow of Tunisia's leader, have led many to ask which country could be next in the Arab world.

Widespread unrest in Algeria could have implications for the world economy since it is a major oil and gas exporter, but many analysts have said an Egyptian-style revolt is unlikely because the government can use its energy wealth to placate protesters.

Discontent with joblessness, poor housing conditions and high food prices sparked rioting in early January across the country, but there is so far no sign that this is coalescing into a political movement.

(Reporting by Vicky Buffery; Editing by Jon Hemming)

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Selepas Tunisia, Mesir, - Algeria pula bergelora

Selepas Tunisia, Mesir, - Algeria pula bergelora

Feb 14, 11 10:18am

Beribu-ribu penunjuk perasaan menuntut Presiden Algeria, Abdelaziz Bouteflika meletakkan jawatan semakin merebak ke bandar Annaba di sebelah timur Algeria.

Menurut Penyelarasan Nasional Perubahan dan Demokrasi (CNCD) dan kesatuan pekerja tidak rasmi, Mustepha Bouchahi, tunjuk perasaan antikerajaan seterusnya akan diadakan Sabtu ini.

Pengumuman tersebut dibuat sehari selepas 2,000 penunjuk perasaan bertempur dengan 30,000 anggota polis di bandar Algiers.

Ratusan penunjuk perasaan juga dilaporkan membaling batu ke arah polis di Bandaraya Annaba di timur Algeria dengan pembangkang mengumumkan untuk mengadakan satu lagi tunjuk perasaan besar-besaran minggu depan.

Sementara itu, Washington meminta pihak keselamatan Algeria supaya bertindak lebih berhati-hati selepas sehari protes seluruh negara terhadap kerajaan pimpinan Presiden Abdelaziz Bouteflika yang menyaksikan puluhan orang awam dan wartawan ditangkap.

“Kami ingin menegaskan sokongan kami kepada hak setiap rakyat Algeria termasuk mengadakan perhimpunan dan menyuarakan pendapat," kata jurucakap Jabatan Negara Amerika, Philip Crowley dalam satu kenyataan.

Tunjuk perasaan yang akan datang dijadual diadakan 19 Februari ini, kata Mustepha Bouchahi dari Penyelaras Kebangsaan Bagi Demokrasi dan Perubahan (CNCD), iaitu kumpulan yang bergabung dalam perti pembangkang.

Semalam, dianggarkan 2,000 penunjuk perasaan bertembung dengan lebih 30,000 anggota polis yang bertindak menghalang mereka mengadakan demonstrasi jalanan di ibu negara itu.

Tunjuk perasaan juga diadakan di seluruh bandar di Algeria bagi menyatakan hasrat sama seperti berlaku di Mesir dan negara jiran, Tunisia.

- AFP

http://malaysiakini.com/news/155954

After Egypt, next stop Algeria?

France 24

ALGIERS, Feb 14: Braving a massive police presence, thousands of anti-government protesters took to the streets of the Algerian capital of Algiers Saturday, defying an official ban on demonstrations and briefly forcing through a police cordon in the centre of the city.

Reporting from Algiers, FRANCE 24’s Tahar Hani said protesters had gathered at May 1 Square chanting, “Free and democratic Algeria”.

Saturday’s protests came a day after Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak stepped down from office, thereby reinvigorating the long-planned for demonstration in Algiers.

Protesters held signs saying, “After Mubarak, it will be Bouteflika,” referring to the 74-year-old Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who has been in office since 1999.
Skirmishes broke out between riot police preventing protesters from reaching central Algiers, reported FRANCE 24's Hani.

While police said about 800 protesters had taken to the streets, journalists and opposition members put the figure at 2,000.

Police presence turns Algiers into a ‘city of blue’

Security was tight ahead of the protests with police blocking access to the capital.

“Hassiba Ben Bouali Street, the main road leading to May 1 Square, is virtually under siege by policemen equipped with riot shields and batons,” said Hani. “Access to Algiers has been blocked with a heavy police presence on the roads linking the city with the rest of Algeria. Train services between central Algiers and the eastern and western suburbs have been cancelled.”

The Algerian capital famed for its luminous white walls had turned into a city of blue, said Hani, referring to the massive police presence. Opposition groups say 35,000 police officials had been deployed, including reinforcements that arrived from other parts of the country.

Saturday’s march was organised by an umbrella group of human rights activists, trade unionists, lawyers and political parties, including the opposition Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD) party.

Four senior RCD officials were arrested Saturday morning along with about 60 other members, according to RCD spokesman Mohsen Belabas.

Reporting from Algiers earlier Saturday, Hani said the RCD headquarters on the main Didouche Mourad Street had been “surrounded by police”.

The impressive police presence succeeded in intimidating some residents. Yacine, a 25-year-old Algiers resident, told FRANCE 24 that he woke up early to get his supplies of bread and milk in case things go wrong during the day.

Seeking a 'rupture' and 'genuine democracy'

In an interview with FRANCE 24 earlier this week, Fodil Boumala, a writer and member of the CNCD (National Coordination for Change and Democracy) the umbrella group organising Saturday’s demonstration, said the purpose of the march was to achieve “a rupture, the departure of the current government and the establishment of genuine democracy”.

Boumala was one of the many opposition activists arrested on Saturday.

Demonstrations have been banned in Algeria because of a state of emergency that has been in place since 1992 when the military cancelled free elections, sparking Algeria’s descent into a brutal civil war.

Last week, President Bouteflika announced that he would lift the state of emergency “in the very near future”, following a spate of copycat suicide attempts mimicking that of the 26-year-old Mohamed Bouazizi, whose self-immolation in protest at unemployment sparked the Tunisian uprising that led to the overthrow of the president. Bouteflika has also promised to allow more democratic freedoms and generate more jobs.

But organisers of Saturday’s march have dismissed the president’s promises, demanding an actual end to the state of emergency and calling for Bouteflika himself to step down.

http://en.harakahdaily.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2271:after-egypt-next-stop-algeria&catid=37:world&Itemid=59

New pro-reform rally in Algeria called for Feb. 19

By AOMAR OUALI, Associated Press Aomar Ouali, Associated Press – 14 mins ago

ALGIERS, Algeria – The organizers of a pro-reform protest that brought thousands of Algerians onto the streets of the capital over the weekend called Sunday for another rally next week.

The Coordination for Democratic Change in Algeria — an umbrella group for human rights activists, unionists, lawyers and others — has called for the Feb. 19 demonstrations to take place throughout the country.

Saturday's rally — which came a day after an uprising in Egypt toppled that country's autocratic ruler — took place only in the capital, Algiers.

Organizers said around 10,000 took part in the gathering, though officials put turnout at 1,500. Many protesters held signs reading "Bouteflika out," in reference to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, in power in the impoverished but gas-rich North African nation since 1999.

Under the country's long-standing state of emergency, public protests are banned in Algiers, and an estimated 26,000 riot police set up barriers throughout the city in a failed bid to quash Saturday's gathering, organizers said.

A human rights campaigner said police briefly detained around 400 people. No injuries were reported.

The hours-long rally dissolved peacefully Saturday afternoon, and Sunday was calm in the capital, though youth clashed with riot police in the eastern coastal city of Annaba.

The skirmish broke out after thousands of people responded Sunday to an ad in the local paper announcing job vacancies at Annaba's city hall. When it turned out no jobs were on offer, members of the angry mob started throwing stones at police.

Click image to see photos of the protests in Algeria

AP/Sidali Djarboub

Annaba is 375 miles (600 kilometers) east of Algiers, near the border with Tunisia.

Tensions have been high in Algeria since a spate of riots over high food prices early last month that left three dead. and recent uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt that deposed those country's leaders.

The success of those uprisings is fueling activists' hope for change in Algeria, although many in this conflict-scarred nation of 35 million people fear any prospect of a return to violence. The country lived through a brutal Islamist insurgency in the 1990s that left an estimated 200,000 people dead.

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley called on the security services to exercise restraint.

"In addition, we reaffirm our support for the universal rights of the Algerian people, including assembly and expression," Crowley said. "These rights apply on the Internet. Moreover, these rights must be respected. We will continue to follow the situation closely in the days ahead."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110213/ap_on_re_af/af_algeria

400 Arrested at Algeria Democracy Rally

By AP / AOMAR OUALI Saturday, Feb. 12, 2011

(ALGIERS, Algeria) — A human rights activist says more than 400 people have been arrested during a pro-democracy protest that brought thousands of people onto the streets of the Algerian capital.

Ali Yahia Abdenour says women and foreign journalists were among those arrested during Saturday's demonstration, which came a day after mass protests toppled Egypt's autocratic leader.

Abdenour, who heads the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights, said some 28,000 security forces were deployed in Algiers to block the march and disperse the crowds. (See the spreading effect of Tunisia's 'Jasmine Revolution.')

Organizers of the march said 10,000 people turned out, but officials put the turnout at only 1,500.

Heavily armed police tried to seal off Algiers, blocking off streets, lining up at strategic points along the march route and setting up barricades outside the city to try to stop busloads of demonstrators from reaching the capital. They also deployed in a neighborhood where many newspapers have their headquarters.

Despite the heavy security, thousands of people defied the government ban on street demonstrations, flooding into downtown Algiers. Some arrests were reported as police charged the crowd in a bid to disperse protesters.

Tensions have been high in this sprawling North African nation of 35 million since it saw five days of riots in early January over high food prices. Despite its vast gas reserves, Algeria has long been beset by widespread poverty and high unemployment. Some observers have predicted Algeria could be next Arab country hit by the wave of popular protests that have already ousted two longtime Arab leaders in a month. (See the top 10 autocrats in trouble.)

Protesters chanted "No to the police state!" and "Bouteflika out!" — a reference to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who has led the nation since 1999.

Under Algeria's long-standing state of emergency — in place since 1992 — protests are banned in Algiers, but repeated government warnings for people to stay away Saturday fell on deaf ears.

Still, news reports suggested security forces outnumbered demonstrators. The Algerian daily La Liberte said some 30,000 riot police had been deployed in the capital, while organizers estimated 10,000 came to march.

The demonstration comes at a sensitive time — just a day after an uprising in Egypt forced Hosni Mubarak to resign after 30 years in power and merely a month after another "people's revolution" in neighboring Tunisia forced autocrat Zine El Abidine Ben Ali into exile on Jan. 14.

The success of those uprisings is fueling activists' hope for change in Algeria, although many in this conflict-scarred nation fear any prospect of violence after living through a brutal Islamist insurgency in the 1990s that left an estimated 200,000 people dead. (See an infographic of the rage across the region.)

Saturday's marchers urged reforms pushing Algeria toward democracy but did not specifically call for Bouteflika to resign. The rally was organized by the Coordination for Democratic Change in Algeria, an umbrella group for human rights activists, unionists, lawyers and others.

Still, a markedly anti-government sentiment was in the air Saturday. Under the headline "Mubarak pushed from power," a La Liberte cartoon showed the score Egypt-1, Algeria-0 and a fan waving an Algerian flag saying "we've got to tie the score."

To quell tensions after the food riots, the government announced it would slash the price of sugar and cooking oil. Last week, mindful of the Tunisian and Egyptian protests, Algerian authorities also announced that the country's nearly two-decade-long state of emergency will be lifted in the "very near future." However, authorities warned that the ban on demonstrations in the capital would remain.

The Islamist insurgency was set off by the army's decision to cancel Algeria's first multiparty election in January 1992 to thwart a likely victory by a Muslim fundamentalist party. Scattered violence continues.

See TIME's most unforgettable images of 2010.

See TIME's special report "The Middle East in Revolt."

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2048787,00.html

Algeria: Thousands turn out for pro-reform protest

– 44 mins ago

ALGIERS, Algeria – Thousands of people defied a government ban on demonstrations and poured into the Algerian capital for a pro-democracy rally Saturday, a day after weeks of mass protests toppled Egypt's authoritarian leader.

Some 10,000 people flooded into downtown Algiers, organizers estimated, where they skirmished with riot police attempting to block off streets and disperse the crowd. Some arrests were reported.

Protesters chanted slogans including "No to the police state" and "Bouteflika out," a reference to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who has been in power in this sprawling North African nation since 1999.

Under Algeria's long-standing state of emergency — in place since 1992 — protests are banned in Algiers but the government's repeated warnings for people to stay out of the streets apparently fell on deaf ears.

The march comes at a sensitive time — just a day after an uprising in Egypt forced Hosni Mubarak to abandon the presidency after 30 years in power. It also comes merely a month after another "people's revolution" in neighboring Tunisia that forced long-time autocrat Zine El Abidine Ben Ali into exile on Jan. 14.

The success of those uprisings is fueling the hopes of those seeking change in Algeria, although many in this conflict-scarred nation fear any prospect of violence after living through a brutal insurgency by Islamist extremists in the 1990s that left an estimated 200,000 dead.

Saturday's march aimed to press for reforms to push Algeria toward democracy and did not include a specific call to oust Bouteflika. It was organized by the Coordination for Democratic Change in Algeria, an umbrella group for human rights activists, unionists, lawyers and others.

Police beefed up their presence in Algiers ahead of Saturday's march. Buses and vans filled with armed police were posted at strategic points along the march route and around Algiers, including at the "Maison de la Presse," where newspapers have their headquarters.

Friday's El Watan daily said roads leading into Algiers were barricaded, apparently to stop busloads of demonstrators from reaching the capital.

In a bid to placate militants, Algerian authorities announced last week that a state of emergency which has been in place since 1992, at the start of the Islamist insurgency, will be lifted in the "very near future." However, authorities warned that even then the ban on demonstrations in the capital would remain.

Authorities offered to let Saturday's demonstrators to rally in a meeting hall.

The army's decision to cancel Algeria's first multiparty legislative elections in January 1992 to thwart a likely victory by a Muslim fundamentalist party set off the insurgency. Scattered violence continues.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110212/ap_on_re_af/af_algeria_protest