Peaceful march in Tizi Ouzou turns into a bloodbath

Tizi-Ouzou (Algeria), 12 Jan. – (ANA) - To begin a new year in the struggle for autonomy in the Kabylie region in Algeria and protest against the policy of assimilation and racism against Christians prevented from practsing their fate, the Mouvement pour l’autonomie de la Kabylie “MAK”

(Movement for the Autonomy of Kabylie) organised a peaceful march Tuesday in Vgayet  and Tizi-ouzou.

The Algerian security forces were very heavy-handed with their batons and truncheons and hundreds of people were injured some seriously.

The march attracted over 15.000 people and the movement is very concerned about the fate of some of their members who were taken in by the security forces.

A communiqué published by the Movement called on the international community to request the demand the whereabouts of the disappeared  and calls on the population of the Kabylie region to be vigilant. The president of the Movement, Ferhat Mehenni, who happened to be in New York to plead in favour of the Kabyle Movement and lives in exile in France, has expressed concern about the hundres of militants who have disappeared. His son, Amezianne, was assassinated in June 2004 in mysterious circumstances.

Folowing the march, a statement was issued by the organizers calling for the Berber language to be recognized as an official language. The Movement president, who is wanted by the Algerian security forces since the spring of 2009, said that “members of the MAK resident in Algeria are henceforth in grave danger”. He considers the situation as untenable for the inhabitants of the Kabylie region. (ANA)

AB/ANA/ 12 January 2010 ---