The East African Standard | Online Edition
 

  Tuesday January 18, 2005

    

 Riots rock Algeria over high gas prices

ALGIERS, Tuesday

Rioting youths looted and burned public buildings in a northern Algerian town to protest against an increase in gas prices and a lack of housing and jobs in the latest disturbance to hit the country, media said today.

Between 3,000 and 5,000 inhabitants of Birine, 200 km (120 miles) south of the capital Algiers, initially took part in Monday’s unauthorised protest which later turned violent when youths looted and set fire to buildings, witnesses and newspapers said.

"There was huge damage. Rioters set fire to several public buildings, including the city hall and those belonging to local post office and tax office," a local journalist, who asked to remain anonymous, told Reuters.

"Anti-riot police weren’t able to control the crowd until the arrival of more policemen from neighbouring towns," he said.

Demonstrations are rare because they need approval from the interior ministry under a state of emergency in place since 1992, when the cancellation of elections a hardline Islamic party was set to win sparked more than a decade of violence.

But riots are on the rise and increasingly violent across the country as disgruntled youths take to the streets, particularly over a lack of housing and jobs. Dozens of youths have recently been sentenced to prison for such offences.

Unemployment stands at around 25 percent in the energy-rich country, which is a member of OPEC, but is much higher in some regions.

— Reuters


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