Algerian leader unmoved by protests

Bouteflika says he wants to find a peaceful solution

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria has vowed to stay in office despite a surge in ethnic violence which on Tuesday left another 10 dead.

Mr Bouteflika brushed off opposition demands he resign, saying: "I am not a captain who leaves the ship in the middle of the storm".

He was speaking for the first time since a huge demonstration in Algiers last week ended in rioting and four deaths.

About 90 people have been killed in the last two months as tension between the government and mainly Berber-speaking protesters has exploded.

The protesters, many of whom come from the northern region of Kabylia, say they are angry about police brutality as well as poor social conditions and unemployment.

Crisis

Mr Bouteflika admitted Algeria was in crisis, but said he was willing to start talks to find a peaceful solution.

Marches in Algiers have been banned

The BBC's David Bamford said the "extraordinary" speech had fuelled suspicions the president was being set up as a scapegoat for the growing unrest, or allowing himself to be made into one.

Leading politicians in exile say his resignation would ease the path for talks on ending the troubles. Others fear it could be a prelude to army repression.

After last week's demonstrations in Algiers the government has announced a ban on marches in the capital. The restriction could also pave the way for troops to move against protesters.

Mr Bouteflika was elected president in 1999, although all other candidates withdrew citing election fraud. New elections are not due until 2004.

Dozens injured

Dozens of people were reported injured in the latest violence, according to local newspapers.

Several of the dead were said to be police and paramilitary officers, with two policemen shot dead near the Kabylie city of Bejaia, 150 miles east of Algiers.

One newspaper said the officers were believed to have been shot by a radical Islamic group called the Salafist Group for Predication and Combat (GSPC), which has declared its backing for the unrest in Kabylie.

Also on Tuesday, an Algerian Supreme Court judge was gunned down at a roadblock.

The judge - Abdelhamid Hedda - was stopped near Seriana in the Batna region, about 400km (270 miles) east of Algiers, and shot dead.

The latest wave of protests were sparked by the police killing of a Berber youth on 18 April and a subsequent police crackdown when more than 50 people were shot and killed.