- Title: ALGERIA: Algerians protest over al Qaeda violence
- Date: 23rd November 2010
- Summary: FREHA, ALGERIA (NOVEMBER 22, 2010) (REUTERS) STREET IN FREHA CITY SECURITY AND PEOPLE IN STREET PROTESTERS MARCHING AND CARRYING BANNER READING: "HALT TERROR" PROTESTERS CARRYING BANNER READING "WHERE IS THE GOVERNMENT" AND "HALT KIDNAPPINGS" (Soundbite) (French) OMAR, PROTESTER, SAYING "It's to protest the kidnappings, it is enough, and our region was seriously affected." MORE OF PROTEST MARCH (Soundbite) (French) BALLABBAS MAHFOUD, MAYOR OF TIZI OUZOU, SAYING: "The purpose of this march is to denounce kidnappings and terrorists in the Berber region. We are here to say no to kidnappings and no to terrorism, and we are wondering about the silence of authorities about what is happening in our region." MORE OF PROTEST MARCH (Soundbite) (French) BALLABBAS MAHFOUD, MAYOR OF TIZI OUZOU, SAYINGl: "We are asking for security because if terrorist attack, it will harm the first economy and the entrepreneurs who provide more to this region. And we are here once again to ask the government to insure the security of citizens and there properties." PERSON SPEAKING INTO MICROPHONE AT MARCH WITH BANNER BEHIND HIM READING "WE REMAIN UNITED", and people listening to his speech. SON OF ENTREPRENEUR KILLED BY EXTREMISTS (Soundbite) (French/Berber) ALI SLIMANA, FATHER OF KIDNAPPED AND RELEASED SLIMANA OMAR, SAYING "The population is here to support us and to denounce the silence of the authorities and also to say halt to terror, for the moment we can't say anything, my son is still shocked, he needs three days to get back to reality and realize what happened." MORE OF PROTEST (Soundbite) (French/Berber) ALI SLIMANA, FATHER OF KIDNAPPED SLIMANA OMAR, SAYING "It's a Kidnapping and we don't know who did it." MORE OF PROTEST
- Embargoed: 8th December 2010 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Algeria, Algeria
- Country: Algeria
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA823V7YENN9IYIT3Y3N4UJ7OVK
- Story Text: About 2,500 people demonstrated in a remote part of Algeria on Monday to demand that security forces do more to protect them from al Qaeda-linked militants who use the area as a stronghold.
The unusually large display of public anger was triggered by a botched kidnapping attempt a week ago, carried out by suspected members of al Qaeda's north African wing, in which a local businessman was killed.
Energy exporter Algeria has for two decades been fighting an Islamist insurgency which at its peak in the 1990s killed an estimated 200,000 people. The violence has subsided in the past few years, though ambushes and attacks still happen.
Monday's protest was in Freha, a town of about 24,000 people 130 km (80 miles) east of the capital, Algiers. The town is in the mountainous Kabylie region, where militants regularly attack security forces and kidnap local people for ransom.
The protesters' anger was directed at the Islamist militants, who over the years have kidnapped dozens of local businesspeople, but also at what local people say is the authorities' inaction.
"The purpose of this march is to denounce kidnappings and terrorists in the Berber region. We are here to say no to kidnappings and no to terrorism, and we are wondering about the silence of authorities about what is happening in our region," said mayor of the Tizi Ouzou Ballabbas Mahfoud.
Local media said a group of insurgents tried to abduct businessman Hand Slimana on Nov. 14. He was shot trying to escape and later died from his wounds. The kidnappers also took his cousin, Omar Slimana, but let him go on Sunday (November 21), reports said.
Omar's father said at the protest: "The population is here to support us and to denounce the silence of the authorities and also to say halt to terror, for the moment we can't say anything, my son is still shocked, he needs three days to get back to reality and realize what happened."
Under pressure from security forces, al Qaeda's local branch has shifted some of its operations south to the Sahara desert. The group is holding five French citizens and two Africans after kidnapping them in Niger two months ago.
The Kabylie region is dominated by Berbers, an ethnic group with its own language and culture which has had a tense relationship with Algeria's Arabic-speaking majority.
RCD lawmakers heckled Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia when he gave an address in parliament last month. That was a rare show of dissent in Algeria, where most political parties are restrained in their criticism of the government. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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