[Ennahar] Algerian Interior Minister Dahou Ould Kablia reminded that no march will be permitted by the authorities in Algiers, in an interview Sunday with the French-language daily Liberté."The marches are banned in Algiers," he said ensuring that this does not apply only to protests from the opposition but to "all marches". January 22, a march of the RCD (Rally for Culture and Democracy, opposition) was prevented by police.
"If a Party from the presidential Alliance plans to hold a march tomorrow in Algiers, I can tell you as Minister of Interior, that it will be banned," he added.
The presidential Alliance, in power in Algeria, includes the National Liberation Front (FLN, Conservative), The National Democratic Rally (RND, Liberal) of Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, and the Movement of Society for Peace (MSP, Islamist).
A march to demand the "departure of the regime" is scheduled on February 12 in Algiers at the invitation of the new National Coordination for Change and Democracy, which includes opposition movements and civil society organizations. This coordination was born Jan. 21 in the wake of riots in early January that killed five people and injured over 800.
The Minister explained that the ban on marches was justified by security reasons. "Algiers is a city of three million inhabitants. There are problems that can not be taken into account by the organizers of the marches," he said.
Street demonstrations are banned in Algeria since June 14, 2001 when a march in favor of Kabylia had turned into a riot which left eight dead and hundreds injured.
The Minister particularly mentioned the possible intervention of "elements that have nothing to do with the objective of the march who are there to create disorder". "There's always the problem of terrorism," he also stressed.
Since the suicide kaboom'>suicide kabooms that hit Algiers in April and December 2007, significant police reinforcements were deployed permanently at the entrances to the capital to avert a possible attack by armed Islamist groups.
Asked about the lifting of the state of emergency in force since February 1992, the minister said it "does not interfere with a number of activities."
It "has been set up to fight against terrorism. This plague is not completely eradicated," he said.
Asked whether Algeria was concerned that the popular revolt that brought down the Tunisian President Ben Ali be repeated in the region, Mr. Ould Kablia said: "the comparison with other contexts is not justified"
"In Algeria, there is a development (...) In both urban and rural areas, development projects are extremely important. Water is available everywhere. All indicators are positive: the school, housing, gas, schooling, and health care," he added.