Despite calls for calm, there were clashes between stone-throwing protesters and riot police, who fired tear gas
ALGIERS, March 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Algerians protesting against the rule of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika have staged huge demonstrations in the capital, Algiers, and other cities.
Riot police fired tear gas to prevent protesters reaching a road leading to the presidential palace, but the rallies were mostly peaceful.
Local reports said nearly 200 people were detained by the security forces.
A wave of unrest began last month after Bouteflika announced he would seek a fifth term in office in April.
The president, who is currently in hospital in Switzerland, has ruled Algeria for 20 years but has rarely been seen in public since he had a stroke in 2013.
He has warned that the protests could plunge the country into “chaos”.
The protest was the largest one ever against President Bouteflika. Riot police were deployed along the protest route, and helicopters circled the capital. All public transport services in the capital were suspended ahead of the rally.
Demonstrations were also reported in Algeria’s second-largest city, Oran, and in Tizi Ouzou. Some organisers had called for 20 million people to take part in Friday’s demonstrations, billed as the “#March 8 Movement” on social media.
The wave of protests was triggered by the announcement last month that Bouteflika would seek a fifth term in office.
The president is believed to have been transferred to a hospital in Switzerland on Feb 24, for what his campaign described as “routine” medical tests. — NNN-AGENCIES
