MORE than 17-million Algerians are voting on Thursday in a referendum to approve a peace and civil concord law proposed by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in an effort to end seven years of conflict between government forces and Islamic militants.
Polling is taking place after 21 days of campaigning during which 674 rallies were organised throughout the country, 14 of them addressed by Bouteflika.
The law, which has already been endorsed by the country’s parliament, envisages the total or partial amnesty for Islamic hardliners who did not spill blood or engage in rapes. Algeria has been rocked by violence since the cancellation of parliamentary elections in 1991, which the now banned Islamic Salvation Front was tipped to win.