Tension as Algeria counts votes

Bouteflika's supporters claimed victory long before the results were announced

Supporters of Algeria's president are claiming victory in the elections, although official results are not expected until later on Friday morning.

Of the six candidates for the presidency, incumbent Abdelaziz Bouteflika was seen as the favourite.

He is credited with taming an Islamic insurgency which has left some 100,000 dead in 12 years.

The main challenger is the man he sacked as prime minister, Ali Benflis, who is claiming "massive fraud".

Skirmishes

Mr Bouteflika's supporters took to the streets of the capital, Algiers, sounding car horns and letting off fireworks after polls closed.

Police fired tear gas when a crowd opposed to Mr Bouteflika appeared.

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES Abdelaziz Bouteflika - incumbent Ali Benflis - former prime minister Saad Abdallah Djaballah - moderate Islamist Louisa Hanoune - first ever female contender Said Sadi - Berber campaigner Ali Fawzi Rebain - Human rights campaigner In pictures: Algeria elections

During voting on Thursday, there were skirmishes in the Kabylie region between police and young Berbers, who blocked roads to polling stations to enforce a boycott.

Police reportedly used tear gas to disperse protesters in the small town of Freha near the regional capital, Tizi Ouzou.

The BBC's Mohamed Arezki Himeur in the town said there were no polling stations in some areas.

But residents said voting in Kabylie's second city, Bejaia, went ahead normally, the AFP news agency reported.

Berber activists want their Tamazight language to be given equal status to Arabic.

Wide choice

A BBC correspondent in Algiers says tensions between the president and his opponents are running high.

In the run-up to the elections, the five opposition candidates accused the president of having exploited his control of state television, the courts and the treasury to gain unfair advantages over them.

Western diplomats say the election could be Algeria's freest yet

But Western diplomats in Algiers say the poll appears to be the fairest since multi-party politics was introduced in 1989.

Some 120 international observers are monitoring the poll.

Algeria's traditional power base, the army, has taken the unprecedented move of pledging neutrality.

In 1992, they cancelled elections, which an Islamic party was poised to win, sparking an uprising.

The interior ministry said about 58% of voters had turned out.

Mr Bouteflika needs to win more than 50% of the vote or face a run-off on 22 April.

"This is the first time that we are voting in such an honest, fair manner," said Melek Fellous, 42, who owns a security company.

A man who gave his name as Samir said he was voting for the first time at age 40 since he felt it was "for real this time".

Some were less convinced, but took a pragmatic view.

"Some countries have been independent for 200 years and still have trouble with democracy. How can you expect to learn it overnight?" asked retired civil servant Mourad Lamari.