"Police attack Yemeni crowds seeking reform; Bahrain seeks to quash rally by Shi’ites" by Ahmed Al-Haj, Associated Press / February 14, 2011
SANA, Yemen — In Algiers, the organizers of a proreform protest that brought thousands of Algerians onto the streets of the capital over the weekend called yesterday for more rallies next Saturday. The Coordination for Democratic Change in Algeria — an umbrella group for human rights activists, unionists, lawyers, and others — has called for demonstrations throughout the country.
Organizers said about 10,000 took part in the Algiers rally Saturday, though officials put turnout at 1,500. Many protesters held signs reading “Bouteflika out,’’ in reference to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who has run the impoverished but gas-rich North African nation since 1999.
Under the country’s long-standing state of emergency, public protests are banned in Algiers, and an estimated 26,000 riot police set up barriers throughout the city in a failed bid to quash Saturday’s gathering.
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"In Algeria, hundreds of baton-wielding police officers quickly overwhelmed protesters in Algiers."
"Algerian police thwarted a rally by thousands of prodemocracy supporters yesterday, 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, tackling some protesters and keeping traffic flowing through the march route.
A demonstrating lawmaker was hospitalized after suffering a head wound when he fell after police kicked and hit him, colleagues said.
The gathering, organized by the Coordination for Democratic Change in Algeria, comes a week after a similar protest.
Authorities have promised to lift a 19-year-old state of emergency that outlaws public gatherings in the capital, Algiers, by the end of February.
Police at yesterday’s demonstrations appeared to outnumber protesters in each of the groups scattered in side streets around May 1 square, a major roundabout. They stood in solid lines to block protesters from main avenues. Trucks with water cannons were parked nearby.
Still, by breaking up the crowd, the police managed to turn the planned march into a chaotic rally of small groups.
“We want a change of the regime, not a change within the regime,’’ said the doyen of Algeria’s human rights advocates, Ali Yahia Abdenour....
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"Algeria will end 19-year state of emergency" by Associated Press / February 23, 2011
ALGIERS, Algeria — The Algerian president’s office agreed yesterday to lift a 19-year state of emergency in a bid to defuse spiraling and potentially dangerous discontent across the nation....
It was not immediately clear just how generous authorities will be in putting Algeria on a new footing. However, the announcement followed a government meeting aimed at finding ways to placate the increasingly restless population.
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Also see: Africa On Edge
