Police are deploying around Algeria’s presidential headquarters and parliament ahead of a new demonstration against ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s bid for a fifth term.
The social media-driven protest movement is urging demonstrators to stay peaceful at Friday’s protest, which is set to begin after midday Muslim prayer services.
Such protests are unusual in Algeria, where questions are growing about Mr. Bouteflika’s fitness for office after a 2013 stroke that has left him largely hidden from public.
Riot police vans have lined the boulevard leading to the presidential headquarters on Friday. Protest organisers issued an appeal for demonstrators to stay 2 metres away from police cordons, to bring families and to clean up after the march.
It’s the latest of several protests in recent days against Bouteflika’s candidacy for the April 18 election.
Published - March 01, 2019 04:02 pm IST