IGHIL IMOULA (Algeria) Nov 1: Tens of thousands of ethnic Berbers on Thursday took part in a peaceful protest march in the troubled Kabylie region in northeastern Algeria to press Algiers to cede to their political demands.

The march, which covered around 10 kilometres between the villages of Ouadhias and Ighil Imoula, was called by Berber tribal and village councils to keep up the pressure on the government of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

Among Berber demands are the official recognition of their language Tamazight, an economic recovery plan for Kabylie, decent unemployment benefits, the departure of gendarmes from their communities, and compensation for victims and their families injured in police-related violence.

By ending the march in Ighil Imoula — the village where the National Liberation Front on November 1, 1954 issued a declaration sparking the war of independence against the colonial power, France — the protesters wanted to show the government that Algiers could not stake sole claim to important dates and places in Algeria’s war of independence.

Heading Thursday’s march, Berber youths carried Algerian flags on a black background to indicate they were in mourning for the scores of Berbers who have died since the protest movement in Kabylie began last April when a Berber youth was killed in police custody.—AFP