Paris - Police in Algiers used batons yesterday to beat protesters demonstrating against alleged fraud in local government elections, witnesses said. Police with shields and batons dispersed demonstrators who had tried to stage a sit-in protest at the main university in central Algiers, according to a resident. Hundreds of police blocked streets in the city centre and closed off the entrance to the headquarters of the secular opposition Rally for Democracy and Culture stopping party supporters from holding a protest there. There were no immediate reports of injuries.