ALGIERS: Algerians took to the streets of the capital despite a spate of arrests Friday to push for further change two months after the resignation of leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
A thousand demonstrators in central Algiers chanted slogans decrying a push to hold presidential elections in July and rejecting calls by the armed forces chief for dialogue.
“No elections with this gang in power,” the crowd shouted.
Protesters are looking to keep up the pressure on the North African state’s ruling elite with weekly rallies despite the end of Bouteflika’s two-decade rule.
Police had earlier rounded some 50 people, mainly young men, in the heart of Algiers ahead of the planned protest.
Those detained had their IDs and mobile phones confiscated and were loaded into vans, an AFP journalist reported.
Demonstrators taking to the streets are demanding the resignation of all those tainted by ties to the former regime.
Armed forces chief Ahmed Gaid Salah has become the main powerbroker in the country after he turned on his boss Bouteflika and helped ease him from office in the face of the mass protests.
He is pushing for elections on July 4 but demonstrators insist there must be a wholesale change at the top of the country before a new vote can be held.
Only two little-known figures have submitted their candidacies on time for the disputed poll, raising doubts about plans to stage it.
The rallies that erupted across the country in February after Bouteflika announced plans to seek a new term have largely been tolerated by security officials overwhelmed by the vast crowds.
Last Friday the police made numerous arrests in central Algiers of protesters carrying placards and the national flag.
Algerians rally for change despite arrests
Algerians rally for change despite arrests
- Protesters are looking to keep up the pressure on the North African state’s ruling elite with weekly rallies despite the end of Bouteflika’s two-decade rule
- Demonstrators taking to the streets are demanding the resignation of all those tainted by ties to the former regime
Iraq welcomes the appointment of Iran’s new supreme leader
- Armed faction Kataeb Hezbollah said it reflects a profound understanding “of the existential challenges confronting the nation”
BAGHDAD: Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani welcomed on Monday the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei as Iran’s new supreme leader after his predecessor and father was killed in US and Israeli strikes.
“We express our confidence in the ability of the new leadership in the Islamic Republic of Iran to manage this critical stage,” and to further strengthen “the unity of the Iranian people” amid the current challenges, Sudani said in a statement.
He stressed that Iraq stands in solidarity with Iran and supports “all steps aimed at ending the conflict.”
Iran wields significant influence in Iraqi politics, and also backs armed groups whose power has grown both politically and financially.
Iraq has for decades been a proxy battleground between the US and Iran.
Pro-Tehran Iraqi groups were among the first to welcome the new supreme leader.
The powerful Badr organization said the new leadership represents a “blessed continuity of the path of the Islamic revolution.”
The Asaib Ahl Al-Haq faction said choosing Mojtaba Khamenei shows continuity and “reinforcement of the Islamic republic’s role as a central pillar in the axis of resistance.”
Armed faction Kataeb Hezbollah said it reflects a profound understanding “of the existential challenges confronting the nation.”
“The best successor to the best predecessor,” said Kataeb Hezbollah, which is part of the Islamic Resistance of Iraq — a pro-Iran alliance that has been claiming attacks on US bases since the start of the war in the Middle East.
Senior Iraqi politician and moderate cleric Ammar Al-Hakim wished the new supreme leader “success in following the path of his martyred father... in upholding the word of truth.”
