Algiers Police Disperse Protest after Ministry Warning

Demonstrators march with banners and flags during a protest demanding political change, in Algiers, Algeria April 9, 2021. (Reuters)
Demonstrators march with banners and flags during a protest demanding political change, in Algiers, Algeria April 9, 2021. (Reuters)
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Algiers Police Disperse Protest after Ministry Warning

Demonstrators march with banners and flags during a protest demanding political change, in Algiers, Algeria April 9, 2021. (Reuters)
Demonstrators march with banners and flags during a protest demanding political change, in Algiers, Algeria April 9, 2021. (Reuters)

Police dispersed a small protest in central Algiers on Friday and stopped other small groups of demonstrators from reaching the city center after weekly rallies since February that usually draw thousands.

It was unclear whether the small number of protesters who came out on Friday was due to Islam's Eid al-Fitr holiday or tougher government rules announced on Sunday.

Dozens of police rushed at the 100 people who tried to protest in central Algiers, forcing them to flee, a witness said.

In Bab al-Oued district, about 200 protesters marched but were unable to move past a police cordon to join groups elsewhere in the city, witnesses said.

Eid al-Fitr, when people traditionally gather with family or friends at the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, began on Thursday and continued on Friday.

On Sunday the Interior Ministry warned that it would no longer tolerate protests held without a permit that named the organizers and included starting and finishing times.

It laid down a challenge to the leaderless protest movement that erupted in 2019 when hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets to protest then Abdelaziz Bouteflika's candidacy for a fifth term as president.

The mass protests led the army, Algeria's ultimate power brokers, to abandon Bouteflika and he stepped down. However, the protests continued with demonstrators demanding a more thorough overhaul of the ruling elite, an end to corruption and for the army to quit politics.

Although the security forces have not moved to quash the protests with force, international rights groups have accused them of attempting to suppress the movement using a wave of arrests.

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, elected in a vote boycotted by the protest movement, has praised the demonstrations as a moment of national renewal, but has also sought to end them.

Official campaigning starts next week for parliamentary elections, which the protest movement also looks set to boycott and which Tebboune hopes will help him turn a page on the unrest.



AFP Appeals for Evacuation of Freelance Staff from Gaza

Smoke rises during Israeli strikes amid the Israeli military operation in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, July 21, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled/File Photo
Smoke rises during Israeli strikes amid the Israeli military operation in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, July 21, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled/File Photo
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AFP Appeals for Evacuation of Freelance Staff from Gaza

Smoke rises during Israeli strikes amid the Israeli military operation in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, July 21, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled/File Photo
Smoke rises during Israeli strikes amid the Israeli military operation in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, July 21, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled/File Photo

Agence France-Presse called on Israel on Tuesday to allow the immediate evacuation of its freelance contributors and their families from the Gaza Strip, citing worsening living conditions and escalating risks to their safety.

In a statement, the French news agency said its freelancers faced an "appalling situation" in Gaza. A 21-month war with Israel has devastated the territory, since Hamas' attack on Israel in October 2023.

"For months, we have been witnessing, powerless, the dramatic deterioration of their living conditions," AFP said, adding that the situation had become untenable despite the "exemplary courage, professional commitment and resilience" of its local team.

The management statement came after AFP's journalists' association issued its own statement saying colleagues in Gaza risked dying of hunger.

AFP said it had succeeded in evacuating eight staff members and their families from Gaza between January and April 2024, after months of effort. It is now seeking to secure safe passage for its freelance Palestinian reporters, despite "the extreme difficulty of leaving a territory under strict blockade".

According to Reuters, Israel has barred international journalists from entering Gaza since October 7, 2023. AFP said the work of its Palestinian freelancers remained crucial to informing the world, but said they now had to leave because of the risk to their lives.

Reuters also works with freelance journalists in Gaza.

"Reuters is deeply concerned about the health and safety of its freelancers in Gaza, with whom we are in daily contact. The extreme difficulty sourcing food is leading to their and all Gaza residents experiencing greater levels of hunger and illness," a Reuters spokesperson said. "We are providing our contributors with additional financial support to help them and, should they wish to leave the territory, we will provide any assistance possible to help them get out."