Algeria to lift emergency powers

Algeria to lift emergency powers

President says country's 19-year state of emergency will be lifted in near future in apparent bid to stave off unrest. Protesters took to the streets in Algiers, the capital, in January to demand the government overturn the law [EPA] Algeria's 19-year state of emergency will be lifted in the "very near future", state media has quoted Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the president, as saying. During a meeting with ministers on Thursday, the president also said Algerian television and radio, which are controlled by the state, should give airtime to all political parties. He added that protest marches, banned under the state of emergency, would be permitted across the country of 35 million except in the capital. His comments come as anti-government protests escalate in Egypt and follows a wave of similar uprisings in other Arab states including Tunisia and Yemen. Opposition groups in Algeria had recently made the repeal of emergency powers one of their main demands, ahead of a protest planned for February 12.