Violence flares at Berber march

It is the latest incident in weeks of unrest

By North Africa correspondent David Bamford

Trouble has flared in Algeria at the end of an anti-government march by tens of thousands of people from the country's ethnic Berber community.

Reports say that as the march, in the north-eastern city of Bejaia, came to an end, militant youths began attacking business premises, regarded as symbolising the Algerian state.

Riot police are said to have fired tear gas to try to disperse them.

Berbers protest at what they say is suppression of their cultural rights

It is the latest incident in weeks of unrest involving the Berbers who have been protesting at what they say is suppression of their cultural rights.

The Algerian President, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, says anyone found to be behind the current unrest among the ethnic Berbers will be severely punished.

Democracy and freedom

He said an independent commission would publish a report on the unrest so that all legal measures could be taken against those who, as he put it, ignited the fire of sedition and kindled the ember of division.

The protest march was organised by district heads of the Berber community in Bejaia in the heart of the Kabylie region east of the capital Algiers.

Participants carried banners demanding the establishment of real democracy and freedom, and blamed the authorities in Algiers for police suppression they say prompted the unrest that began in April.

It was as the rally was ending and people were starting to make their way home, that militant youths took to the streets.

Details of casualties are not known.

In isolated villages in the area, police stations themselves have come under attack in recent days and army troops are reported to have been ordered into the region to protect them.