Algerians prepare for protest march

Hundreds of police have taken up positions ahead of a pro-democracy protest march in Algiers by militants who have vowed to defy an official ban.

The planned march is aimed at pressing for reforms to push the oil and gas-rich North African giant towards democracy.

The weeks-long uprising in Egypt that forced Hosni Mubarak to abandon the presidency after 30 years was bound to fuel the hopes of Algerians seeking change – as did the “people’s revolution” in neighbouring Tunisia.

A month of deadly uprisings there pushed Zine El Abidine Ben Ali into exile on January 14.

However, many Algerians fear any prospect of conflict after years of a brutal insurgency by Islamist extremists that has left an estimated 200,000 dead.

There is no specific call by organisers of the protest march to oust President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

With scattered strikes and clashes, including five days of rioting in early January, the atmosphere in Algiers has been tense.

There have been numerous copy-cat suicides, and attempted suicides, in Algeria like the self-immolation attempt by a young man that set off the Tunisian protests in mid-December.

The Co-ordination for Democratic Change in Algeria, an umbrella group of human rights activists, unionists, lawyers and others, insists the march will take place despite numerous warnings by authorities to stay out of the streets.

Buses and vans filled with armed police were posted at strategic points along the march route and around Algiers, including at the Maison de la Presse, a small village in Algiers where newspapers have their headquarters.