Monday, January 10, 2011

Unrest Spreads to Algeria


By Emad Mekay

"CAIRO, Jan 9, 2011 (IPS) - At least three Algerians have died and hundreds have been injured in four days of protests over housing shortages, rising food prices and failing economic policies that only three months ago won praise by the International Monetary Fund and other Western financial institutions.

The protests in Algeria come as similar demonstrations continue unabated in the neighbouring North African nation Tunisia, also hailed previously as an economic success story by Western banks and investors....

Several blogs from Algeria said the protesters were still upset at the corruption, the widening gap between the rich and the poor and the abuse by the Western-backed ruling autocratic regime. Protests continued in several cities in Algeria.

"All over the Arab world, we are left to be eaten by the wolves," said one Algerian blogger named Bousaad.

"Algeria has turned into a jungle where the beastly eats the weak," a blogger named Rabei wrote Sunday. "The gap between the rich and the poor is getting larger by the hour."

"The Arab nation is looking to you, young people, who are carrying out the protests for change," said another blogger, Sawan."

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