ALGIERS: Securityforces arrested 41 people during angry protests that rocked Algeria's capitalagainst ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika seeking a fifth term, authoritiessaid yesterday. Police fired teargas on Friday afternoon to block a protestmarch on the presidential palace, prompting demonstrators to respond withstone-throwing. The Directorate General for National Security (DGSN), saidyesterday it had detained 41 people over "public disorder, vandalism,damage to property, violence and assault". Despite the arrests, protestsaround the country were largely tolerated by authorities, even in the capital,where demonstrations have been strictly banned since 2001.
The police didnot give an estimate of the number of protesters, but a security officialspeaking on condition of anonymity said that around 20,000 people haddemonstrated nationwide, around a quarter of them in Algiers. The official said38 of the arrests were in the capital, and that no security personnel had beenwounded. Activists had used social media to call for nationwide protestsagainst Bouteflika on Friday after weekly Muslim prayers. The 81-year-old, whouses a wheelchair and has rarely been seen in public since suffering a strokein 2013, announced on February 10 that he will run for another term in an Aprilpresidential election.
Clashes broke outin the Algerian capital between security forces and demonstrators opposed to abid by ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to run for a fifth term, AFPcorrespondents said. Police in riot gear fired tear gas and set up a securitycordon to block access to the presidential palace by demonstrators whoresponded with stone-throwing. Hundreds of demonstrators had gathered despite aban on protests in the capital, for a march which also took them to theMediterranean city's landmark Grand Post Office. The clashes broke out whensome protesters headed for the palace, four kilometers away and a number ofarrests were made.
"No fifthmandate," chanted the mostly young demonstrators, many waving Algerianflags, as they started to march through central Algiers. "Ouyahia, getout!" the crowd also cried, referring to Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, aBouteflika loyalist heading the government for a third term. Some demonstratorsin Algiers scaled the outside of a building and tore down a poster bearing theportrait of the 81-year-old president. An official ban on demonstrations inAlgiers was imposed in 2001. But in February 2018, thousands of trainee doctorstried to hold a protest at the same venue. They were rapidly encircled andtheir path blocked by police.
Activists usedsocial media to call for Friday rallies against Bouteflika across the countryafter the weekly Muslim prayers, also filling the main square in Annaba, 400kilometers east of Algiers with demonstrators, the TSA news website said. Othergatherings were reported in several other cities, including in Oran, Algeria'ssecond largest. French-language daily El Watan, on its website, said crowdsalso gathered in Ourgla where it said "thousands of demonstrators chanted"the people want the fall of the regime", the slogan of the ArabSpring revolts of 2011.
'Routine medicaltests'
Bouteflika, whouses a wheelchair and has rarely been seen in public since suffering a strokein 2013, announced on February 10 that he will run for another term in Aprilpresidential polls. He spoke of an "unwavering desire to serve"despite his health constraints and pledged to set up an "inclusivenational conference" to address political and economic reforms.
His office hasannounced that Bouteflika will travel to Switzerland on Sunday for"routine medical checks" ahead of the April 18 election. He has had along battle with illness and frequently flown to France for treatment.Bouteflika is Algeria's longest-serving president and a veteran of itsindependence struggle, who has clung to power for two decades despite longyears of ill health. Even before his stroke, a year before the lastpresidential polls, Bouteflika had repeatedly shown himself to be a wilypolitical survivor.
He came to powerin 1999 with the support of an army battling Islamist guerrillas. He ranunopposed for the presidency in polls later the same year and has beenre-elected since 2004 with an official tally each time of more than 80 percentof the vote. "Boutef", as many Algerians have nicknamed him, wasinstrumental in fostering peace after a decade-long civil war in the 1990s.Known for wearing a three-piece suit even in the north African nation'sstifling heat, he gained respect from many for his role in ending the war,which official figures say killed nearly 200,000 people.
But he has alsofaced criticism from rights groups and opponents who accuse him of beingauthoritarian. After his stroke, Bouteflika consolidated power in a countrywhere the shadowy intelligence service has long been viewed as a "statewithin a state". When the Arab Spring erupted in January 2011, Bouteflikarode out the storm by lifting a 19-year state of emergency and using oilrevenues to grant pay rises. In early 2016, he dissolved the all-powerful DRSintelligence agency after dismissing its leader General Mohamed Mediene, knownas "Toufik", who had clung to the post for a quarter of a century. -Agencies