[Ennahar] Algeria's police force was positioned Saturday morning in central Algiers around the main post office, place of rendezvous by young Algerians on the Facebook network to march towards the Presidency of the Republic.Despite the lifting of emergency rule last month, street protests are still banned in Algiers because of a provision from 2001 when a march of Kabylians had killed eight people.
On the "Place de la Grande Poste", the crossroads of many arteries that run north to south and east to west of the Algerian capital, only vehicles were allowed to pass.
Around all pedestrian areas, the police placed barriers to prevent demonstrators gather.
The rendezvous is set for 11:00 am (10:00 GMT) and "must mark a turning point to show that our approach is independent of political parties," said Friday a participant in the initiative, Amine, 29.
In all the arteries leading to the center, police ready for action filled the sidewalks and street corners, backed by dozens of armored vehicles.
On the main thoroughfare connecting the University of Algiers I to the Grande Poste, in the extension of the famous Didouche Mourad St., dozens of police were stationed.
The call for protest on Saturday, the 49th anniversary of the cease-fire that led Algeria to independence from La Belle France in 1962, was launched on the social network "of young Algerians" early this month.