Makkah police arrest Yemeni and Egyptian suspects of fake Hajj campaign    400-800 year old giant coral colony discovered within AMAALA waters in the Red Sea    HR Ministry launches 'Ajeer Al-Hajj' service for seasonal work during Hajj 2025    Kafalah grants 1,900 loan guarantees worth over SR4.8 billion to SMEs during 1Q 2025    Council of Senior Scholars reaffirms performing Hajj without a permit is a sinful act    Syria thanks Saudi Arabia and Qatar for settling World Bank dues    King and Crown Prince offer condolence to Iranian president over the deadly port explosion    stc reports strong first-quarter 2025 results with 11% rise in net profit    Virgin Atlantic celebrates one month of nonstop service between London and Riyadh    Saudi Awwal Bank records SR2.1 billion net profit after zakat and income tax for 1Q25    Mahmoud Abbas appoints Hussein Al-Sheikh as PLO vice president in key succession move    Duran leads Al Nassr past Yokohama Marinos into AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Al Ahli cruise past Buriram into AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Saudi Arabia offers condolences to Iran following deadly Bandar Abbas port explosion    Saudi orchestra to perform at Sydney Opera House in May    Al Hilal thrash Gwangju to reach AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Saudi Theater Commission launches its Work and Learn Project in UK    The season has begun — and one comment shook us all    Average life expectancy in Saudi Arabia rises to78.8 years    Famed Philippine film star Nora Aunor dies at 71    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Veteran Bollywood actor Manoj Kumar dies at 87    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Algerian police break up crowd at pro-reform rally
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 20 - 02 - 2011

ALGIERS, Algeria: Algerian police thwarted a rally by thousands of pro-democracy supporters Saturday, breaking up the crowd into isolated groups to keep them from marching.
Police brandishing clubs, but no firearms, weaved their way through the crowd in central Algiers, banging their shields, tackling some protesters and keeping traffic flowing through the planned march route. The gathering, organized by the Coordination for Democratic Change in Algeria, comes a week after a similar protest, which organizers said brought an estimated 10,000 people and up to 26,000 riot police onto the streets of Algiers. Officials put turnout at the previous rally at 1,500. Police presence at Saturday's march was more discrete than the week before, when huge contingents of riot police were deployed throughout the capital the night before the march. On Friday night, by contrast, the capital was calm, with police taking up their positions only Saturday morning.
Still, by breaking up the crowd, the police managed to turn the planned march into a chaotic rally of small groups.
Opposition lawmaker Tahar Besbas, of the Rally for Culture and Democracy, RCD, party, was hospitalized with an apparent head injury after he was clubbed by police. Besbas' supporters said police initially refused to take him to a hospital, though he was eventually taken away in an ambulance.
Human rights advocate Ali Yahia Abdenour, of the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights, was undeterred by the police. The frail elderly man cried out, “We want democracy, the sovereignty of the people.” Another demonstrator, 23-year-old Khalifa Lahouazi, a university student from Tizi Ouzou, east of the capital, said he “came here to seek my legitimate rights.
“We're living an insupportable life with this system,” said Lahouazi, a university student from Tizi Ouzou, in the Kabylie region 60 miles east of Algiers. “It's the departure of the system, not just Bouteflika, that we want,” he said, referring to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
The new march comes amid weeks of strikes and scattered protests in the North African country, which has promised to lift a 19-year state of emergency by month's end in a nod to the growing mass of disgruntled citizens.
University students and nurses are among those who have held intermittent strikes, joined by the unemployed. Even the richest region, around the gas fields of Hassi Messaoud, was not spared as around 500 jobless youths protested Wednesday, the daily El Watan reported. A group of communal guards — citizens armed by the state to fight the two-decades-long Islamist insurgency — joined the protest Wednesday in front of the governor's office in Medea, around 60 miles south of Algiers to demand a variety of social benefits. Rising food prices led to five days of riots in Algeria last month that left three people dead. In Algeria, Bouteflika has promised the lifting of a state of emergency by the end of the month. The measure, put in place to combat a budding insurgency by Islamist extremists, bans large public gatherings.


Clic here to read the story from its source.