Bruce Riedel discusses the vulnerabilities and underlying tensions that could lead to unrest in Algeria. The Arab protest movement actually began in Algeria, with massive demonstrations in January. But the fear of returning to the chaos of the 1990's soon tempered protesters. The war in Libya has been "deeply disturbing" for Algerians, and the NATO intervention recalled bitter memories of colonialism. Nevertheless, socioeconomic and political problems, including unemployment, a youth bulge, and ...

In an interview with Reuters, leader of the Front for Justice and Development party, Sheikh Abdallah Djaballah, said that the Algerian government has failed to address the undemocratic system and has instead tried to hand out money to appease popular dissent. He said, "The regime wanted to fix the problem financially by saying that the crisis is social and that raising wages will be enough... It is true that the social aspect ...

Taken on May 2nd, 2011 courtesy of Reuters.

On Thursday, the Libyan-American advocacy group, Libya Emergency Task Force, will hold a rally outside the Algerian embassy in Washington DC from 11:30am to 1pm, to protest the country's support for Muammar Gadhafi's  regime, which has continued its attacks on civilians.  At the rally, the task force will call for the United Nations to launch an investigation into the flow of Algerian mercenaries and military support to the Gadhafi regime.

Several thousand students took to the streets of Algiers on Tuesday to protest "poor conditions in higher education and unpopular reforms."  Students were prevented from marching upon the presidential palace and dozens of students were injured during clashes with police.

Steven Cook, writing in the Atlantic, believes that the Arab spring could end on the "banks of the Nile" due to the "defenders of the status quo in the region." Cook asserts that Muammar Gadhafi's attacks on the Libyan people were the "ultimate counterrevolutionary step" and President Barack Obama was correct in stating  the U.S. has a, "very practical interest in making sure that the changes that are sweeping through that ...

Writing in Foreign Affairs, Azzedine Layachi discusses how Algeria and Morocco differ from their North African counterparts and notes the possibility of protests resurfacing in the two countries. Layachi states that unlike Libya under Muammar Gadhafi and Tunisia under Zine Ben Ali, Algeria and Morocco's political leaders have, in the past, enacted important economic and political reforms that opened the system, while preventing any shift in the nature of their ...

A few dozen protesters tried to march in the Algerian capital, Algiers, on Saturday.  The demonstrators were met by hundreds of police officers who blocked the group from marching from May 1 Square to Martyr's Square.  The group included Ali Yahia Abdennour, honorary president of the Algerian League of Human Rights.  Opposition groups have been continuously trying to stage Saturday rallies in Algiers since January, although protests in the capital ...

Hundreds of demonstrators clashed with riot police in a poor neighborhood of Algiers, the capital, on Wednesday. The violence broke out after city authorities decided to bulldoze a group of houses claiming they had been illegally constructed. Anywhere between twenty to forty people were wounded according to different police and eyewitness accounts. Police claimed most of the injured were officers. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has promised to ...

Click on image for hyperlink.

Despite a continued ban on protests in the Algerian capital, Algiers, an estimated 10-20,000 police officers pushed past security to protest outside the parliament building demanding salary raises along the lines of the country's other security forces.  Protesters also complained of being poorly equipped, taking part in security sweeps against suspected Islamists without helmets or bullet-proof jackets as some 4400 policemen have been killed since 1994 in armed confrontation with Islamists.  A ...

On Thursday, President Barack Obama commended the government of Algeria for formally lifting the State of Emergency which had been in place for 19 years: "This is a positive sign that the Government of Algeria is listening to the concerns and responding to the aspirations of its people, and we look forward to additional steps by the government that enable the Algerian people to fully exercise their universal rights, including freedom of ...

On Tuesday, Algeria's Cabinet adopted an order to lift the 19-year-old state of emergency law. This measure is one of the economic and political demands that the opposition has sought in recent weeks. The government also announced that it would also undertake economic stimulus plans in an attempt to curb unemployment. It remains unclear what kind of an effect the removal of the law will have because earlier in the ...