Police again stifle weekly Algeria demo

Mar 26, 2011

ALGIERS — Algerian police again stifled an attempt by pro-reform activists to rally against the government in what has become a weekly ritual.

Only a few dozen demonstrators turned out on May 1 Square in central Algiers with the intention of marching to Martyrs Square some three kilometers (two miles) away.

Hundreds of police surrounded the protesters, who included lawmakers from the Rally for Culture and Democracy and the honorary president of the Algerian League of Human Rights, Ali Yahia Abdennour, 90.

The demonstrators waved Algerian flags and signs calling for "freedom, justice and honor" before dispersing.

It was the eighth attempt since January by the CNDC to stage a weekly demonstration, along the lines of pro-democracy protests sweeping the Arab world, in defiance of a ban on rallies in the capital imposed in 2001.

The group was established after rioting at January 21 protests over the high cost of living left five dead and 800 injured, but has since split amid differences over the strategy for regime change.

Algeria has been shaken by protests at all levels of society with strikes by students, doctors and auxiliary police.

Following last Saturday's demonstration President Abdelaziz Bouteflika promised to introduce wide-ranging but unspecified reforms.

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