Algiers: About 500 students have rallied in
Algeria`s capital, part of the wave of unrest in Arab world to
register discontent with national governments.
Today`s protest near the ministry of higher education
follows scattered strikes and protests in recent weeks in
defiance of a ban on public gatherings in Algiers dating to a
bloody Islamic insurgency in the 1990s.
The students want the government to scrap a new law
that dilutes the value of their diplomas by giving equal
status to less-qualified degree holders in the job market.
Police were out in force, and some students claimed
they were beaten bloody with police sticks.
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has promised to lift a
19-year-long state of emergency, including the ban on public
gatherings, by month`s end.
PTI
