Algeria 'to lift emergency laws'
The Algerian government has said it will end its 19-year-old state of emergency "within days".
Mourad Medelci, the foreign minister, made the announcement yesterday, echoing a similar promise made by Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the president, earlier this month.
"In the coming days, we will talk about it as if it was a thing of the past," Medelci told French rmedia.
A state of emergency has been in place in Algeria since 1992 and the government has come under pressure to remove the laws following popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.
The decision also comes after demonstrations across the country, calling for a change of government.
On Sunday, hundreds of stone-throwing demonstrators clashed with police in the eastern city of Annaba. Four police officers were slightly injured during clashes with young protesters outside the local government headquarters.
On Saturday, thousands of protesters defied a police ban and protested in the capital Algiers.
Widespread discontent with unemployment, poor housing conditions and high food prices sparked rioting in early January across the country.
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