Algeria to crack down on ethnic unrest

A demonstration in the capital Algiers called for an end to violence in the southern oasis region of Ghardaia [Xinhua]

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika says he will crack down on ethnic clashes which killed at least 22 Arabs and Berbers in the south of the country.

A statement from his office said that the public prosecutor would act quickly and “with diligence and severity” to hold those involved in the riots to account.

On Tuesday riot police and security forces deployed in Ghardaia, home to Arabs and Berbers, to quell the unrest.

The army was ordered to the region ahead of a visit by the interior minister.

According to the Chinese Xinhua news agency, the clashes began shortly after an unknown band of young men armed with small firearms and knives attacked a bus.

No further details were provided.

Algerian news media said that rioters burned and damaged private houses, shops, official buildings, and cars and buses.

Local reports suggested that about 30 people were injured in the past two days, but members of the Berber minority said the figure was much higher, reaching about 200.

Relations between the Arab and Berber communities in the southern oasis region had been tense for the past few years. The Berber community has since Algeria’s 1962 independence called for a more equitable distribution of economic wealth and development.

Ghardaia is considered to be a poor region in Algeria.

On Wednesday, Berbers demonstrated in the capital Algiers calling for justice in Ghardaia.

Bouteflika on Wednesday night said he would speed up economic reform and development in the southern region to create more jobs and opportunity.

Source: Agencies