Algerians took to the street despite massive police presence

Thousands of Algerians took to the streets of the capital in defiance of a heavy security presence to demand the ouster of the country’s army chief.

Demonstrators gathered near Algeri's main post office square, where the protest movement that forced longtime president Abdelaziz Bouteflika to step down in April was based, this time calling for the ouster of General Ahmed Gaid Salah.

“The people want the fall of Gaid Salah,” the strongman in post-Bouteflika Algeria, people chanted. “Take us all to prison, the people will not stop.”

Friday’s protest marked Algeria’s 31st consecutive week of rallies, but protesters faced a heavy deployment of security forces in the city centre and along its main avenues.

Salah on Wednesday ordered police to block protesters from outside Algiers entering the capital to boost numbers at the anti-regime rallies.

The tougher line on protests came just days after interim president Abdelkader Bensalah announced a December 12 date for a presidential election to fill the vacuum left by Bouteflika’s departure.

The army chief has led the push for polls by the end of 2019, despite mass protests demanding political reforms and the removal of the former president’s loyalists -- including Gaid Salah himself -- before any vote.