YAMEN DAN ALGERIA.......???

Thousands Turn Out For Anti-Govt Protests In Algeria

Organizers of an anti-government demonstration in the Algerian capital say several thousand people have gathered in the city center.

Under the country's long-standing state of emergency, protests are banned in the capital, Algiers, and hundreds of riot police were on hand Saturday. They blocked streets and charged the crowd in a bid to prevent protesters from reaching the city center.

Demonstrators chanted "no to the police state" and "Bouteflika out," a reference to the country's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who's been in power since 1999.

Saturday's protest comes the day after massive protests in Egypt toppled the president, and weeks after similar demonstrations in neighboring Tunisia also succeeded in ousting the president.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Hundreds of police began taking up positions the night before a pro-democracy protest march in Algiers by militants who have vowed to defy an official ban.

The planned march on Saturday is aimed at pressing for reforms to push this oil- and gas-rich North African giant toward democracy.

The weeks-long uprising in Egypt that forced Hosni Mubarak to abandon the presidency after 30 years was bound to fuel the hopes of Algerians seeking change — as did the "people's revolution" in neighboring Tunisia. A month of deadly uprisings there pushed Zine El Abidine Ben Ali into exile Jan. 14.

However, many Algerians fear any prospect of conflict after years of a brutal insurgency by Islamist extremists that has left an estimated 200,.000 dead. There is no specific call by organizers of the protest march to oust President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

With scattered strikes and clashes, including five days of rioting in early January, the atmosphere in Algiers has been tense.

There have been numerous copy-cat suicides, and attempted suicides, in Algeria like the self-immolation attempt by a young man that set off the Tunisian protests in mid-December.

The Coordination for Democratic Change in Algeria, an umbrella group of human rights activists, unionists, lawyers and others, insists the march will take place despite numerous warnings by authorities to stay out of the streets.

Buses and vans filled with armed police were posted at strategic points along the march route and around Algiers, including at the "Maison de la Presse," a small village in Algiers where newspapers have their headquarters.

The daily El Watan said Friday that barrages were thrown up on roads leading to Algiers, apparently to stop busloads of potential demonstrators expected to descend on the capital.

In a clear bid to placate militants, Algerian authorities announced last week that a state of emergency in place since 1992, at the start of the Islamist insurgency, will be lifted in the "very near future." However, it maintained a ban on demonstrations in the capital. Authorities offered to allow Saturday's demonstrators to rally in a meeting hall.

The army's decision to cancel this nation's first multi-party legislative elections in January 1992 to thward a likely victory by a Muslim fundamentalist party set off the insurgency. Scattered violence continues.

Yemeni protesters demand president quit

SEVERAL thousand young Yemenis have gathered in central Sanaa, calling for President Ali Abdallah Saleh to step down and follow the example of Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak.

"After Mubarak, it's Ali's turn," chanted some of the estimated 4,000 protesters, mostly young students.

The protesters then headed off towards Sanaa University, with some crying: "Get out, Get out Ali" and others chanting: "The people want the regime to fall".

The protest began after an exchange between a group of students trying to put up an anti-regime poster and supporters of the ruling General People's Congress who tried to prevent them, according to witnesses.

By midday (2000 AEDT), the demonstrators had reached the Avenue Jamal Abdel Nasser, some 500 metres) from Tahrir Square which was occupied by supporters of the ruling party. On Friday, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Yemen's capital to celebrate the resignation of the Egyptian president.

Several hundred protesters tried unsuccessfully to approach the Egyptian embassy, which was protected by a large police force, while others gathered in Tahrir Square outside the seat of the Yemeni government.

Yemeni security personnel were also out in force around the square, and elsewhere in the capital.

Some demonstrators chanted slogans such as "Yesterday Tunisia, today Egypt, and tomorrow Yemenis will break their chains" and "The people want to overthrow the regime".

Tens of thousands of demonstrators turned out on February 3 to protest against the rule of Saleh, who has been in power since 1978.

An equal number of pro-regime demonstrators also took to the streets on the same day.

The situation has since calmed, with the parliamentary opposition calling on the president to implement promised reforms.