ALGIERS, Algeria: Police faced off against rioting youths, Muslim prayer leaders called for calm and authorities canceled football matches Friday as Algeria tried to quell unrest over rising food prices. New clashes between youths and police were reported Friday in the cities of Annaba, Oran, Bouira and Bejaia. El Watan newspaper's Web site showed a photo of a barricade in flames on a main avenue of the city of Tizi Ouzou. Youths in the North African nation have been rioting for days following sudden price hikes for staples including sugar, flour and oil. There is also generalized frustration that Algeria's abundant gas and oil resources have not translated into broader prosperity. Many officers patrolled outside mosques in the tense working-class neighborhood of Bab El-Oued, which was calm Friday after days of violence. An imam who said Friday prayers on Algeria's national radio called for calm, saying serenity is one of Allah's graces and must be preserved – especially in a country like Algeria, which is still recovering from an insurgency. After keeping silent at first, Algeria's government spoke out about the unrest on Friday – with Sports and Youth Minister Hachemi Djiar calling on angry youths to avoid vandalism and to “dialogue in a peaceful, civilized way.” Violence “has never brought results, either in Algeria or elsewhere, and our young people know that,” Djiar said. The opposition party RCD issued a statement Friday insisting it had “incessantly put out warnings, throughout its structures, about the gravity of the social and political crisis that is dragging on for ages in Algeria.” Violence raged in the country throughout the 1990s after the army canceled 1992 elections that fundamentalists were expected to win. Up to 200,000 people were killed.
