{"id":34233,"date":"2019-03-05T20:22:16","date_gmt":"2019-03-05T20:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=34233"},"modified":"2019-03-05T20:22:16","modified_gmt":"2019-03-05T20:22:16","slug":"army-chief-of-staff-vows-to-secure-algeria-prevent-bloodshed-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=34233","title":{"rendered":"Army chief of staff vows to secure Algeria, prevent bloodshed"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nTUNIS:\u00a0Algeria\u2019s army will guarantee security and not allow a return to an era of bloodshed, its chief of staff said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\nGaed Salah said there were some parties he did not name which wanted Algeria to return to the \u201cyears of pain,\u201d referring civil war in the 90s.<\/p>\n

\nThousands of Algerian students, meanwhile, marched in protest at ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika\u2019s determination to stand for re-election, brushing aside his pledge not to serve a full fifth term.<\/p>\n

\nFollowing mass demonstrations, the veteran leader promised that if he wins the April poll he will organize a \u201cnational conference\u201d to set a date for further elections which he would not contest.<\/p>\n

\nBut his pledge, made in a letter read out late on Sunday on state television, has been angrily dismissed as an insult by Algerians weary of his two-decade-old rule.<\/p>\n

\nRallies demanding the 82-year-old resign have rocked Algeria since Feb. 22, with protesters mobilized by calls on social media, in a country where half the population is under 30 and many young people struggle to find jobs.<\/p>\n

\nOn Tuesday thousands of university students from campuses across Algiers marched in the capital, many carrying their country\u2019s flag.<\/p>\n

\nAbderahman, a 21-year-old student, said Bouteflika \u201cwants an extra year\u201d in power.\u00a0 \u201cWe don\u2019t want him to stay even an extra second. He should leave now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\nPolice deployed across the centre of the capital where protests have been banned since 2001.<\/p>\n

\nThe TSA news website reported similar protests in Algeria\u2019s second and third cities, Oran and Constantine, as well as in other towns and cities.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cHey Bouteflika, there won\u2019t be a fifth term,\u201d the students chanted in central Algiers, a reporter said.<\/p>\n

\nOnlookers applauded them and motorists honked their horns in a show of support.<\/p>\n

\nAnd in a sign they will not back down from protests calling on the president to resign, the students chanted \u201cbring on the army commandos and the BRI (police rapid response squad).\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\u201cGame over\u201d read one poster. \u201cSystem – go away\u201d, said another.<\/p>\n

\nThe protests appear to lack leadership and organization in a country still dominated by veterans of the 1954-1962 independence war against France, including Bouteflika.<\/p>\n

\nBut the unrest still poses the biggest challenge to the ailing leader and the ruling elite made up of the ruling party, businessmen, the military and security services.<\/p>\n

\nYoung Algerians who are at the forefront of the protests want a new generation of leaders and have few attachments to the old guard.<\/p>\n

\nAfter a decade-long insurgency that Bouteflika crushed early in his rule, Algerians generally tolerated a political system that left little room for dissent as a price to pay for relative peace and stability.<\/p>\n

\nBut Algeria\u2019s mostly young population are agitating for jobs, better services and an end to rampant corruption in a country that is one of Africa\u2019s largest oil producers.<\/p>\n

\nBouteflika suffered a stroke in 2013 and is rarely seen in public.<\/p>\n

\nHe formally submitted his candidacy for the April 18 poll just before a midnight deadline on Sunday. It was handed in by his campaign manager Abdelghani Zaalane as the president has been in Switzerland since Feb. 24 for what the presidency has described as \u201croutine medical tests.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nIn Sunday\u2019s message he said that his pledge not to serve a full term if re-elected \u201cwill ensure I am succeeded in undeniable conditions of serenity, freedom and transparency.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nHe acknowledged the mostly peaceful protests against him.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI listened and heard the cry from the hearts of protesters and in particular the thousands of young people who questioned me about the future of our homeland.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nBut his words have failed to end the protests against him which first erupted on Feb. 22 and have continued daily, drawing Algerians from all walks of life, including students, lawyers and journalists.<\/p>\n

\nTuesday\u2019s rallies came in response to calls on social media for students to gather outside the iconic building housing Algiers\u2019 main post office.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cNo means no! Hasn\u2019t he understood the message of the people?\u201d asked Selma, who studies mathematics.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cToday we will make it clear for him, and again on Friday,\u201d which has been the main day for protests, she said.<\/p>\n

\nA sign held up by protesters read: \u201cNo studies, no teaching until the system (regime) falls,\u201d as students were reportedly considering going on strike.<\/p>\n

\nThe sprawling Bab Ezzouar campus of the University of Algiers, just outside the capital, was deserted.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThere is a massive strike by students… I\u2019ve never seen anything like it since the 1980 Berber Spring,\u201d a professor said.<\/p>\n

\nShe was referring to a weeks-long uprising demanding cultural rights for Algeria\u2019s Berber community, who long fought for greater recognition for their customs and ancient language overshadowed by Arabic culture.<\/p>\n

\nUniversity professors were meeting to decide if they too should go on strike<\/p>\n

\nAnd the bar association of lawyers in the city of Bejaia, 180 km east of Algiers, called on its members to follow in the footsteps of their colleagues in Constantine and go on strike.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TUNIS:\u00a0Algeria\u2019s army will guarantee security and not allow a return to an era of bloodshed, its chief of staff said on Tuesday. Gaed Salah said there were some parties he did not name which wanted Algeria to return to the \u201cyears of pain,\u201d referring civil war in the 90s. Thousands of Algerian students, meanwhile, marched…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-middle_east_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34233\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}