Thousands of Algerians rally against Bouteflika’s fifth term

ALGIERS - Algerian police on Friday fired tear gas to disperse thousands of protesters in the capital demonstrating against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's plan to extend his 20-year rule by seeking a fifth term in April elections, witnesses said.

Police helicopters circled overhead as hundreds gathered in streets and parks of Algiers after midday Muslim prayer services to join the march. Protesters hoped the protest would send a loud signal of public discontent to the gas-rich North African country's secretive leadership before the April 18 presidential election.

Riot police vans lined the boulevard leading to the presidential headquarters and deployed around the march route.

The crowd was quickly building up, with tens of thousands walking through the centre of Algiers within one hour of the start of the protest, residents said.

Demonstrations were also planned in other Algerian regions, organized via social networks.

Protest organizers issued an appeal for demonstrators to keep calm and stay 2 meters (yards) away from police cordons, to bring families and to clean up after the march.

It's the latest of several protests in recent days against Bouteflika's candidacy for the April 18 election.

The crowds Friday weren't targeting anger just at Bouteflika but at those around him who have kept him, and themselves, in power for so long despite his difficulties in moving and speaking. They feel Algeria's leadership has neglected unemployment, corruption and poverty and ignored public concerns.

They didn't express support for a single challenger in the election, though opposition candidate Ali Benflis expressed support Friday for the march, calling Bouteflika's presidential bid a "humiliation for the Algerian people."

Bouteflika himself, who is 81, is undergoing medical checks in Switzerland.

Bouteflika is credited with reconciling Algerians after a decade of civil war between Islamic insurgents and security forces that left some 200,000 people dead. He has been in power since 1999 and overwhelmingly won re-election in 2014, and most Algerians will likely vote for him again next month for fear of instability that his departure could unleash.