Political lockdown at root of Algeria riots — experts focus 01/12/2011

Political lockdown at root of Algeria riots — experts

focus

01/12/2011
ALGIERS — Youths involved in Algeria’s worst rioting in decades were protesting not just against rising prices, but against a system that has left them no other way to voice their frustration, experts said.

The riots, which have left at least five persons dead and more than 800 injured, most of them police, erupted following a dramatic rise in prices for basic goods including food. In some cases, prices had risen by as much as 30 percent since Jan. 1.

The government has scrambled to deal with the crisis, announcing plans for cuts on import duties and taxes on sugar and food oils.

But experts said the underlying cause of the violence — a political regime that has clamped down on dissent — will remain..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110112com5.html