People all across Algeria have been protesting against the nomination of 82-year-old President Abdelaziz Bouteflika as a candidate for the forthcoming presidential election for a fifth consecutive term.
Chief of Staff of the Algerian People's National Army Ahmed Gaid Salah said on Tuesday that the military would ensure security and would not allow the country to return to an era of bloodshed, according to the Ennahar TV station.
Algeria Swamped With Massive Protests Against President's Re-Election (PHOTOS)
He said there were some parties that wanted Algeria to return to the “years of pain”, referring to a civil war in the 1990s, known as the Black Decade. He, however, didn't name those parties.
Salah, who is also the Vice Minister of Defence, further said that the “people who managed to defeat terrorism, know today how to act under the circumstances the country is living through”.
In a parallel development, the TSA news website reported that Algerian riot police fired tear gas on Tuesday to disperse demonstrators protesting against Bouteflika's bid for a fifth term. The move was made to stop protesters from marching on the presidential palace.
Thousands of university and secondary school students spilled onto the streets of the Algerian capital, Algiers, earlier in the day, chanting “No fifth term” and “By peaceful means”, El Khabar newspaper reported.
At Least 10 Reportedly Hurt Amid…
