ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) - The Latest on the protests in Algeria (all times local):
8 p.m.
Police have moved in at several points around the Algerian capital, firing intense volleys of tear gas as a massive anti-government protest is drawing to an end.
Friday was the eighth straight of demonstrations against Algeria’s interim leadership, and the protest was marked by a surge of violence with bottles and rocks thrown at security forces, who responded with tear gas.
The protest comes over the temporary leadership put in place after Abdelaziz Bouteflika was forced to step down as president on April 2.
Friday’s protest had been overwhelmingly peaceful until the day drew to an end. Clashes erupted in the central post office’s square after police fired tear gas in other parts of central Algiers. Two helicopters were seen flying above the acrid smoke.
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5 p.m.
Police have moved in on a crowd in a small square in the Algerian capital, firing tear gas and what appeared to be rubber bullets after some demonstrators tossed bottles and rocks at them.
Tension mounted on the eighth straight Friday of demonstrations against Algeria’s interim leadership, put in place after Abdelaziz Bouteflika was forced to step down as president on April 2.
Protesters have prided themselves for holding peaceful demonstrations nationwide.
An AP team saw people in Audin Square, a center for weekly protests, throwing rocks and bottles at police, who responded with tear gas then what appeared to be rubber bullets, emptying the square.
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1:55 p.m.
Algerian police are firing water cannon at protesters in the capital as tensions mount on the eighth week of protests against the country’s leadership.
The protest movement has been overwhelmingly peaceful but police were out in larger than usual numbers Friday.
Reporters from The Associated Press saw police spraying water repeatedly on a huge crowd on Didouche Mourad Street in Algiers, on the route toward the central post office that has become a symbol of the movement.
It was unclear whether something prompted the police to act.
The street was packed with protesters waving Algerian flags. Protesters shouted “Authorities - Assassins!” and surrounded the water cannon truck, with some appearing to hit it.
The protesters pushed out longtime President Abdelaziz Bouteflika last week but now want other top officials to step down too.
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10:05 a.m.
Police are deployed around Algeria’s capital to deter protesters arriving for an eighth straight Friday of demonstrations against the country’s leadership.
Protest organizers are encouraging Algerians to come out in Algiers or other cities to show that they’re not satisfied with the departure of longtime President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, and want wholesale political change.
Anger is mounting over military chief Gen. Ahmed Gaid Salah, who was instrumental in Bouteflika’s departure but then threw his support behind interim President Abdelkader Bensalah, seen as part of the old regime.
Bensalah was named interim president this week and announced new elections for July 4. Protest appeals online call for both Bensalah and the military chief to step down.
Police are lining plazas and checking all vehicles entering Algiers.
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