THE Tamazight or Berber language is to be officially recognized in Algeria, with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika due to change the constitution which currently only recognizes Arabic. Officials said the decision was announced to representatives of village committees and tribes from the Kabylie region who met Prime Minister Ali Benflis. Kabylie in the northeast is the homeland of Algeria’s ethnic Berbers, who between April and July were involved in a violent protest movement in which some 60 died and 2 000 were injured as they pressed their demands for recognition of their own language and culture. – AFP