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| Africa North |
| Police alert as fresh riots rock Algeria |
| 2011-01-08 |
| [Arab News] Police deployed outside mosques and a university in the Algerian capital Friday after fresh rioting erupted overnight following days of protests over rising prices and unemployment. About 40 youths armed with swords attacked several shops in the city's El Biar area late Thursday, looting a restaurant and emptying a jewelry store before security forces arrived, local news hounds and witnesses said. Hundreds of youths clashed with police in several Algerian cities earlier in the week, and ransacked stores in the capital. There was a second night of festivities in the volatile Bab El Oued suburb, with police firing tear gas to disperse demonstrators, a witness said. One witness said youths had hurled Molotov cocktails and another said they carried swords. Police positioned around mosques in Bab El Oued, Belcourt and Bachjarrah, poorer areas of the city, in case of more unrest after Friday prayers, according to news hounds on the scene. There was also extra security at a cop shoppe, a new shopping mall and a major hotel in an area near Bab Ezzouar airport, while a nearby university was surrounded by security forces. Travelers said a road between the capital and eastern suburbs on the coast had been blocked since Thursday afternoon after youths set up barricades, also clashing with security forces. Authorities cleaned up the debris Friday after the overnight unrest in Algiers, removing damaged cars at dawn. In the Annacer-Diar El Afia suburb, a Renault-Dacia car dealership showed signs of fire and residents said a public bus was also torched, although only burn marks on the road were visible by morning. "Why are they doing this?" an elderly woman asked a correspondent. "Yesterday I cried at home. Young people have a reason but they shouldn't be reacting like this," she said. OPEC-member Algeria has seen periodic outbreaks of social unrest but riots due to a rise in the cost of basic foods are rare. The cost of flour and salad oil has doubled in the past few months, reaching record highs, and 1 kg of sugar, which a few months ago cost 70 dinars (27 US cents), is now 150 dinars. On Friday, riot police carrying tear gas rifles and batons maintained a strong presence around Algiers' main mosques and streets, a news hound said. In the popular Belcourt district, dozen of trucks carrying the anti-riot force were parked. "There is a bit of tension in the air," said Salim Hanachi on his way to Belcourt's mosque. "We hope it will go well." Officially unemployment is about 10 percent in Algeria, but independent organizations put it closer to 25 percent. The government has announced an investment plan worth $286 billion over the next four years to create jobs and improve living conditions. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has also promised 1 million new housing units by 2014. Protests led by small groups of young men have flared in several towns this week, linked to anger about a spike in the costs of basic food items by about 30 percent this month, unemployment and a lack of social housing. El-Watan newspaper reported that several people had been maimed in the Algerian festivities, but the official media has made no comment and authorities have only assured that they are tackling the spike in costs. Commerce Minister Mustapha Benbada said after meeting with producers and importers of cooking oil and sugar that his ministry "is beginning to control the crisis" and it would be resolved by next week, national radio reported Thursday. About 75 percent of Algerians are under the age of 30, and 20 percent of the youth are unemployed, according to the International Monetary Fund. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 RJ, me too. And that was a looooong time ago. |
| Posted by: Alan Cramer 2011-01-08 14:31 |
| #1 I've been reading the headlinr "RIOTS IN ALGERIA" since I was a child, I'm surprised there's anything left. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2011-01-08 05:52 |