Algeria votes amid tight security
Algerians are preparing to vote in parliamentary elections, held amid heavy security following a series of bomb attacks.
In the latest incident one man was killed and five people injured in an explosion in the city of Constantine.
The interior minister said the blast was an "act of sabotage" against the Algerian democratic system.
An Islamic group said it carried out suicide bombings that killed 33 people in the capital, Algiers, last month.
Voters will elect 389 members of parliament in the general election, in which more than 20 political parties are taking part.
Islamists banned
The BBC's Ian Pannell in Algiers says the Western-leaning government has proved a reliable ally to the West, in particular to Washington and its fight with Islamic extremism.
No-one imagines that these elections will have an immediate impact on these substantial issues, he adds.
Interior Minister Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni said the latest bomb attack was not unexpected.
"We have been expecting this kind of act. It is an act of sabotage, an act against the democratic system in Algeria," he said.
"The best way of responding to this kind of attack is strong participation in the legislative elections."
Our correspondent says some in the international community say Algeria has the potential to be a role model for the wider Arab world.
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika launched a programme of national reconciliation in 2005, following years of a violent Islamist insurgency.
The Islamists are still banned from politics, but a militants have called on Algerians to boycott the polls.
Story from BBC NEWS:
news.bbc.co.uk
Published: 2007/05/17 01:31:07 GMT
© BBC MMVII |
