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Algerian riot police confront Berber demonstrators in Kabylie. The Berbers, whose language was recently recognised by the Algerian government, are demanding greater autonomy and less intervention by Alegria's notorious paramilitary gendarmes
Photo: REUTERS |
A general strike was observed today in northeastern Algeria's troubled Kabylie region, the homeland of the Berber minority where five people have been killed in more than a week of riots.
The two-day strike starting Sunday, a normal working day, was called by community leaders to protest against the arrests of several Berbers and the occupation of their headquarters in the Kabylie capital Tizi Ouzou by security forces.
Shops, banks and post offices were closed in Tizi Ouzou and other Kabylie cities, while pharmacies remained open, witnesses said in reports confirmed by the state news agency APS.
After a period of relative calm, unrest broke out in Kabylie following an address earlier this month to the nation by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika during which he said he would make the Berber language Tamazight a national language.
The decision on Tamazight, seen as long overdue, did not satisfy the community leaders, who want the language to be both national and official, with an equal status to majority Arabic.
Five people have been killed in more than a week of riots, officials and press reports have said.
The Berbers also want the hated national police, the gendarmes, to leave their homeland.
Gendarmes are accused of carrying out massacres during unrest last year which left scores dead, Berber community leaders said.
The Berbers - who make up about one fifth of the country's population of some 31 million - have long sought official recognition of their own language and culture, but have in the past year also pushed for economic and social benefits.
Rioting broke out Saturday at the funeral for a 36-year-old demonstrator who died Friday of injuries sustained during clashes with gendarmes.
Clashes were also reported Saturday between protesters and security forces in Tizi Ouzou, state radio said.
AFP