Algerian Authorities Arrest Protesters for Carrying Amazigh Flags

Algerian protesters wave the Amazigh flag during an anti-government demonstration in the center of the capital Algiers. (AP)
Algerian protesters wave the Amazigh flag during an anti-government demonstration in the center of the capital Algiers. (AP)
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Algerian Authorities Arrest Protesters for Carrying Amazigh Flags

Algerian protesters wave the Amazigh flag during an anti-government demonstration in the center of the capital Algiers. (AP)
Algerian protesters wave the Amazigh flag during an anti-government demonstration in the center of the capital Algiers. (AP)

Algerian authorities have been detaining a number of people for two days now for carrying the Amazigh flag during protests, said rights activists in Algeria on Saturday.

The flag has been banned by Army chief General Ahmed Gaid Salah in demonstrations opposing remnants of the former regime. He has also ordered the arrest of those carrying them.

Lawyer and rights activist Abdel-Ghani Badi told Asharq Al-Awsat that three supporters of the Amazigh issue were arrested during Friday’s rally and will appear today (Sunday) before the public prosecution in the capital.

He said the police accused them of “unauthorized gathering,” pointing out that the charge is linked to the demonstrations, “but they are not criminals.”

Badi affirmed that the activists were detained in central Algiers during Friday’s protests because they were raising Amazigh flags.

Former prosecutor Abdullah Haboul said that no law bars carrying a flag other than the national one during demonstrations.

Lawyer Mokrane Ait Larbi said: “Serious violations of freedoms have been committed out in the field, especially regarding preventing protesters from carrying Amazigh banners in all the cities.”

“Despite banning these flags, people still insist on raising them along with the national flag,” he added.

“I strongly condemn this act, which cannot be justified at all,” he stressed, noting that all citizens must denounce this ban by continuing to raise this flag.



Israeli Strikes Kill 12 in Lebanon, including 5 Hezbollah Fighters

Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.
Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.
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Israeli Strikes Kill 12 in Lebanon, including 5 Hezbollah Fighters

Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.
Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.

Heavy Israeli airstrikes killed 12 people, including five Hezbollah fighters, in eastern Lebanon on Tuesday, a security source in Lebanon said, in what Israel said was a warning to the Iran-backed group against trying to re-establish itself.

The Israeli military said the airstrikes targeted training camps used by elite Hezbollah fighters and warehouses it used to store weapons in the Bekaa Valley region of eastern Lebanon.

The airstrikes were the deadliest on the area since a US-brokered ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel last November. Bachir Khodr, governor of the Bekaa region, said seven of the dead were Syrian nationals.

Israel dealt Hezbollah heavy blows in last year's conflict, killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah along with other commanders and destroying much of its arsenal.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday's strikes sent a "clear message" to Hezbollah, accusing it of planning to rebuild the capability to raid Israel through the elite Radwan force, Reuters reported.

Israel "will respond with maximum force to any attempt at rebuilding", he said. He added that strikes were also a message to the Lebanese government, saying it was responsible for upholding the ceasefire agreement.

There was no immediate public response from Hezbollah or from the Lebanese government to the latest Israeli strikes.

The United States has submitted a proposal to the Lebanese government aimed at securing Hezbollah's disarmament within four months in exchange for Israel halting airstrikes and withdrawing troops from positions they still hold in south Lebanon.

Under the terms of the ceasefire brokered by the US and France, Lebanon's armed forces were to confiscate "all unauthorized arms", beginning in the area south of the Litani River - the zone closest to Israel.