Demonstrators who are participating in weekly protests in Algeria on Friday are carrying Berber flags, ignoring the military's order to refrain from using "non-Algerian" flags during rallies, media reported
CAIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st June, 2019) Demonstrators who are participating in weekly protests in Algeria on Friday are carrying Berber flags, ignoring the military's order to refrain from using "non-Algerian" flags during rallies, media reported.The blue-green-yellow flag that was adopted to represent the Berbers, a people indigenous to North Africa's Maghreb region, who were subject to Arabization in the 7th century AD, can be seen carried next to Algerian state flags, Alhurra broadcaster reported.
"This is our ancestors' symbol of freedom and a call for the country's freedom," the protesters said, as quoted by the broadcaster.
Algerian media reported that there had been clashes between security forces and protesters in some areas.
The Berber flag was introduced by Mohand Aarav Bessaoud, a veteran of the Algerian Revolution, as a result of which Algeria gained independence from France, and a Berber activist.
The demonstrators are demanding that all key government figures that served under former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and the Algerian Armed Forces' leadership resign.
Bouteflika, 82, resigned from the post that he had been holding for 20 years in early April after a wave of mass protests hit the country in response to his decision to seek a fifth presidential term.
Parliament's speaker and Bouteflika's ally, Abdelkader Bensalah, took over the role of the head of state for 90 days, as provided for by the country's constitution, and pledged to hold presidential election on July 4.
The vote, however, has been since indefinitely postponed because of the lack of candidates.
