Algerian police forces block a tunnel where hundreds of students gather in central Algiers to protest Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s decision to seek fifth term, Tuesday, March 6, 2019. Algerian students are gathering for new protests and are calling for a general strike if he doesn’t meet their demands this week. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ahmed Gaid Salah spoke at a military school outside Algiers as hundreds of students marched in the capital to oppose President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s decision to seek a fifth term. “There are parties who wish to bring Algeria back to the years of violence,” Salah, one of Bouteflika’s most loyal supporters, said. “What we want is him to leave.”When neighboring Tunisia and Libya overthrew autocratic leaders in 2011, the Algerian government boosted public spending and avoided Arab Spring uprisings.

Source: Washington Post March 05, 2019 12:23 UTC