Scores protest in Algeria against Bouteflika’s rule

HUNDREDS of thousands of Algerians demonstrated Friday a month after ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s bid for a fifth term sparked a protest movement that shows little sign of abating.

Despite bad weather, people marched for several kilometers (miles) through one of the main streets of the capital Algiers for more than four hours to rally at the Grand Post Office in the city center.

Like the past two Fridays, the Muslim day of prayer, when record numbers of protesters rallied in Algiers, drums and horns cheered the demonstrators as the crowds clogged other major roads.

Security forces said “hundreds of thousands” of protesters gathered in central Algiers and that demonstrations were also held in 42 out of the North African country’s 48 provinces.

Demonstrators took to the streets of second city Oran and across the country of 40 million people, according to Algerian media and social networks.

Foreign diplomats say “millions” of Algerians have rallied against Bouteflika’s plans to extend his twodecade rule since the protest movement began.

Now an indispensable accessory for protesters, the green and white Algerian flag with its red star and crescent moon could be seen everywhere draped around shoulders, flying from balconies or held aloft and waved.

“Stand down,” read one banner.

Marching for change

Friday afternoon police used a water canon and tear gas to prevent a group of demonstrators from breaking through a security cordon to try to reach a road that leads to the presidential palace.

No one was hurt and by nightfall the protests in the capital -- largely held in a festive mood with music, dancing and free food offered to the marchers -- ended.

But retired civil servant Zineb, 59, said she would continue demonstrating “in rain or snow, until this rotten regime falls”.

Bouteflika said on February 22 he would run for a fifth term in April 18 elections, despite concerns about his ability to rule.

The 82-year-old uses a wheelchair and has rarely appeared in public since suffering a stroke in 2013.

Following early protests, he made the surprise announcement on March 11 that he was pulling out of the race -- and also postponed the polls.

Protesters initially greeted the move with elation, but staged further mass demonstrations once they realized he intended to remain in office.