Algeria govt adopts order ending emergency law

Algeria's cabinet on Tuesday adopted an order to lift the 19-year-old state of emergency, a concession designed to keep out a wave of protests sweeping the Arab world.

An instruction to lift the state of emergency will come into force from its "imminent" publication in the official gazette, the APS news agency reported.

The government put in place the martial law after Islamist militants waged a protracted guerrilla war following the cancellation of local election results in 1991 that had given a majority to the now-dissolved Islamic Salvation Front.

Government critics have since alleged the emergency rules are being used to repress political freedoms.

The ensuing war turned into a bloodbath, killing up to 200,000 people, according to official figures.

Ending the emergency powers was one of the demands voiced by opposition protests who have been staging weekly protests in the Algerian capital that have gathered a few hundred people.

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced at the start of this month that the emergency rules would be lifted soon.

The lifting of the state of emergency will limit the military's scope under the law to get involved in domestic security issues. But it is likely to have only limited implications for Algeria's political life.

The emergency rules banned protest marches in the capital but Bouteflika said earlier this month this restriction would remain in force indefinitely.
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