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Algerian
police clamp down on pro-democracy protest
Saturday February 12, 2011 09:12:56 PM,
DPA
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Algiers/Paris: Algerian
police Saturday cracked down on pro-democracy demonstrators trying
to stage an unauthorised march in the capital Algiers, in a show
of force aimed at thwarting an Egypt- or Tunisia-style popular
revolt.
An estimated 2,000 demonstrators gathered on the central May 1
square for a march through the city to protest the government of
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
"A free and democratic Algeria," some of the demonstrators, who
were mostly middle-class men, chanted. Others called for Bouteflika to resign.
The protest, which had been planned for more than a week, comes a
day after mass demonstrations forced Egyptian president Hosni
Mubarak to step down after 30 years.
The nervousness of the authorities was reflected in the huge
security presence in Algiers. Thousands of riot police patrolled
the city in armoured vehicles or on foot.
The protesters soon found themselves hemmed in by the huge
contingent of riot police, who barred all routes out of the square
and made dozens of arrests. Police also used batons on the
demonstrators, but there were no injuries reported so far.
The Algerian human rights league told DPA that about 200 people,
including opposition politicians, had been arrested.
The protest was called by the Coordination for Change and
Democracy (CNCD), a newly formed grouping of trade unions, human
rights organisations and left-wing parties demanding democratic
reforms, including the right to protest.
Many Algerians have been reluctant to endorse the protest, fearing
a return to violence. In the 1990s, the state fought a war against
Islamist extremists, in which more than 100,000 people were
killed.
The biggest opposition party, the Socialist Forces Front (FFS),
did not participate in the demonstration.
Party leader Karim Tabou told Radio France International that
while he supported the quest for greater freedom, the task was
complex because of the country's troubled history.
"Algeria needs more work, more serious (efforts) than simple
popular agitations," he said.
Algeria already experienced several days of rioting in January
over rising food prices and unemployment, in which at least three
people were killed and hundreds injured.
Several people have also killed themselves by setting themselves
on fire.
To appease critics, Bouteflika said last week that a 19-year-old
state of emergency would be lifted "in the very near future". He
also announced other reforms, including food price cuts.
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