Algerians voted yesterday on a peace charter presented by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika as the only hope of ending a conflict that has left 150,000 people dead but which opponents dismiss as a pretext to extend presidential powers. Early turnout figures provided by the Interior Ministry showed that less than half â or 44.01 percent of Algerians â had cast their ballots by 2 p.m. (1300 GMT) on a charter whose approval will result in many of those jailed for the killings being freed. The Algerian press said that voter turnout would be the real test of the referendum, with papers repeating the widespread belief that a âyesâ result was guaranteed from the 18-million strong electorate.Bouteflika launched a âcivil reconciliationâ initiative at the start of his first five-year term in 1999, leading to a partial amnesty for thousands of rebels who laid down their arms. The program was endorsed overwhelmingly in a referendum, and Bouteflika was re-elected in 2004 largely because the peace initiative helped quell the fighting that erupted after the army canceled an election in 1992 which Islamist politicians were poised to win. The violence has eased considerably in recent years, but some 50 people have been killed in September during referendum campaigning.