Police thwart Berber march

Kabylie has been the scene of a wave of anti-government protests

By Heba Saleh in Cairo

Police in Algeria have fired tear gas at protesters trying to reach the capital Algiers, where they want to stage a march in defiance of a government ban.

Several people were lightly injured when police fired tear gas at a roadblock 80 kilometres east of Algiers which the protesters were trying to breach.

Police in full anti-riot gear have been blocking buses and cars carrying demonstrators to Algiers from the Berber-speaking region of Kabylie.

The demonstrators want to present a list of demands at the presidential palace.

Kabylie has been the scene of an extended wave of anti-government protests triggered by the killing in custody of a local student in April.

Hundreds of protesters are reported to be staging sit-ins in front of the roadblocks.

Massive security presence

Inside the capital there is a massive security presence, with riot police surrounding the president's offices, where the protesters wanted to present a list of demands.

Several demonstrators are reported to have been arrested in the capital.

Police in riot gear have stopped protestors reaching Algiers

The Kabyls have timed their protest to coincide with the opening in Algiers of an international youth festival drawing in participants from many foreign countries.

They have called for a boycott of the event saying that it's intended to improve the image of a state which has had no qualms about shooting at unarmed youths.

Enquiry blames police

The report of an official inquiry published 10 days ago blamed the gendarmerie - the force responsible for order in the countryside - for what it described as the use of weapons of war against unarmed civilians during riots in Kabylie.

So far, however, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who commissioned the inquiry, has not reacted to its revelations.

The riots in Kabylie briefly extended to some major eastern cities in June.

They revealed the depths of the frustration of Algeria's youth at what they regard as a corrupt and repressive state which failed to tackle unemployment and a chronic shortage of affordable housing.