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Algeria - The worst disorder in the capital

Global Arab Network - - Adam Turner

Friday, 23 October 2009 13:00

To Mohamed Kherfallah, the young men in his neighbourhood who hurled rocks and petrol bombs at police in the Algerian capital this week are performing a service for their community.

Kherfallah, like his neighbours, is fed up of waiting for the government to re-house him. "It's always a nightmare here," the 66-year-old said as he stood in the tiny one-room flat he shares with 11 members of this extended family.

The Diar Echams district where he lives erupted this week into rioting over poor housing and unemployment. Police used tear gas and water cannon in failed attempts to disperse the rioters and several officers were injured.

The worst public disorder in the capital in several years, it highlighted a deep problem: the anger and frustration felt by millions of poor people in this energy producing country at a government they believe has let them down.

"The youth achieved what we could not achieve through peaceful means. They are listening to us because the youngsters made lot of noise," Kherfallah said.

The unrest is unlikely to threaten the government because opposition parties are weak and the state has a vast security apparatus to contain civil disorder.

But the frustration is growing, analysts say, widening the gulf between the government and the young, urban poor in a country that provides 20 percent of Europe's gas imports and is still emerging from a conflict with Islamist militants.

"Unrest is now routine in Algeria," said Nacer Jabi, a sociologist who teaches at Algiers University. "It is becoming a national sport simply because people see no improvement in their daily living conditions."

OVER-CROWDING
In the slums of Diar Echams -- Arabic for "houses of the sun" -- it is clear why the residents are angry.

The area is made up of apartment blocks built during French colonial rule in the 1950s, and next to them a shanty-town of crudely-built shacks.

Local people said there were 1,500 apartments for a community of about 25,000 people.

Because of the shortage of space, Kherfallah converted the balcony of his apartment into a bedroom for his 41-year-old son, Ahmed, and his daughter-in-law.

He said the son, Ahmed, was depressed. "When I want to have sex with my wife, I need to rent a room for a couple of hours in a hotel," Ahmed said.

In another apartment, 52-year-old Said Souakri told Reuters his three children were ill because of the unhealthy living conditions. "I am always afraid that a rat will eat my two-year-old boy," said his wife.

In the slum, groups of bearded men in long robes -- the customary dress of followers of the ultra-conservative Salafist branch of Islam -- could be seen in the background, keeping their distance from reporters.

Islamists have influence within local communities in Algeria, though they have been keeping a low public profile since a conflict broke out in the early 1990s between armed militants and security forces.

That conflict killed 200,000 people, according to some independent estimates. The violence has subsided in the past few years, but a hard-core of insurgents linked to al Qaeda still carries out sporadic attacks.

FRUSTRATED GENERATION
The conditions for people living in Diar Echams are repeated throughout Algeria, Africa's second-largest country by area and home to 35 million people.

Though unrest in the capital is rare, there are periodic riots in other cities and towns.

On Wednesday, hundreds of angry unemployed men protested in the eastern city of Annaba calling on the authorities for jobs, local media reported.

Last week, security forces used tear gas to clear 300 protesters blocking roads in the city of Biskra, about 500 km (310 miles) south of Algiers, according to media reports.

"A generation of Algerians is growing up frustrated, unable to find jobs (and) affordable housing, which is leading to social pressures as, for example, young people are unable to get married," a diplomat told Reuters.

"I do not see this as an immediate threat to the government," he said. "But it does highlight growing popular dissatisfaction with the government, which is only likely to increase."

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, re-elected to a third term in April with 90.24 percent of the vote, has said improving housing conditions and creating jobs is a national priority.

He has pledged to spend $150 billion on infrastructure and modernising the economy in the next five years. That includes building 1 million new housing units by 2014.

However, critics of the government say the investment will not translate fast enough into jobs and housing because of red tape and bureaucratic inefficiency, and a Socialist-style economy that they say hinders private investment.

Algerian militants kill 7 guards
Algerian security officials say militants have ambushed private security guards working for a Canadian company east of the Algerian capital, killing seven and injuring two.

The officials say the attack early Thursday occurred near a construction site operated by the Canadian firm SNC Lavalin some 130 kilometres east of Algiers in the often restive region of Kabylie.

The seven killed were taken to the Boghni morgue. Doctor Youcef Hadj says two injured were at Tizi Ouzou hospital.

Police officers, asking anonymity because of Algerian laws, said no Canadian was among the victims. They blamed the attack on al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which is active in the area despite months of intense army and police crackdowns.

Latest militant attacks in Algeria
Following is a list of the latest attacks in Algeria, where militants affiliated to al Qaeda have been waging bombings and ambushes against government targets.

June 17 - In the deadliest single attack in nearly a year, gunmen ambushshed and killed 18 paramilitary police and a civilian, officials said. The attack took place on a major highway about 180 km (110 miles) east of Algiers. Newspapers reported the police had been assigned to escort Chinese construction workers.

June 22 - Insurgents killed five Algerian paramilitary police and kidnapped two others in an ambush, several newspapers reported. El Watan newspaper said the attackers cut their victims' throats in the ambush in Khenchela province about 600 km (370 miles) southeast of Algiers.

July 29 - Insurgents using roadside bombs and automatic weapons to ambush a military convoy in Tipaza province, west of the capital, killed at least 14 soldiers, local media reported. Al Qaeda's North African wing said it was behind the attack.

October 22 - Seven police officers are killed in an ambush in the region of Tizi Ouzou, about 100 km (60 miles) east of the Algerian capital, newspapers and Reuters security sources said.

NOTE: The list of attacks has been compiled from media reports and Reuters own sources, as Algerian officials do not routinely provide official confirmation.(Source:Reuters, ctv.ca, AP)

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