Police stop demonstration in Algiers

Algerian authorities have stopped a peaceful demonstration on Saturday of the Rassemblement pour la culture et la démocatie (RCD), a largely Berber party led by Saad Sadi. Enormous amounts of policemen blocked the way for the protesters, made it impossible for Saad Sadi to leave party heaquarters and stopped people who tried to join the demonstrations from outside Algiers. The protesters, demanding more freedom and democracy, carried Algerian flags  but also Tunisian ones. Eleven people were wounded, five were arrested. Last week saw demonstrations in several Algerian cities against high prices, low wages and unemployment. Demonstrations are forbidden in Algeria, that lives under a state of emergency since 1992.