ALGIERS: A vast
crowd of protesters pushing for reforms flooded the streets of Algiers, while
mass rallies were held across Algeria for the first time since ailing president
Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigned. Activists chanted slogans demanding key
Bouteflika loyalists follow his lead and quit, after social media calls for
"joyful demonstrations" to "peacefully bring down a dictatorial
regime". No official figures were immediately available on the size of the
rally, but it was at least as big as those held on previous Fridays leading up
to Bouteflika's departure, said AFP journalists at the scene. Rallies took
place in 41 of the country's 48 provinces, according to the official APS news
agency which in a first published slogans highly hostile to those in power.

Opponents of the
old regime had called for a massive turnout, targeting a triumvirate they dub
the "3B"-Senate speaker Abdelkader Bensalah, head of the
constitutional council Tayeb Belaiz and Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui. The
veteran Bouteflika loyalists have been entrusted with overseeing the political
transition after the president finally stepped down at the age of 82.
Bouteflika resigned late on Tuesday after weeks of demonstrations triggered by
his bid for a fifth term in office. After two decades in power, he had lost the
backing of key supporters including armed forces chief Ahmed Gaid Salah.

'Mistakes made'

Bensalah, speaker
of the upper house of parliament for 16 years, is to take the reins as interim
president for three months until elections are organized. Belaiz, a minister
for 16 years, was named by Bouteflika as head of the Constitutional Council
which will regulate the elections. Before his appointment as prime minister,
Bedoui had served as interior minister-or "chief engineer of electoral
fraud" according to the El Watan newspaper.

Opponents say all
three are tarnished by their long years of service under Bouteflika and should
follow his lead and resign. Meanwhile the country's intelligence services chief
Athmane Tartag has been sacked and his duties handed to the defense ministry,
the official APS news agency reported Friday. Informed sources confirmed the
move to AFP that the CSS chief had been removed from office.

Even hours before
the rally started, several hundred demonstrators had gathered outside the main
post office in central Algiers, which has been the epicenter of the protest
movement. Some shouted "we will not forgive!" in reference to an open
letter Bouteflika issued after his resignation, apologizing to the Algerian
people for "mistakes made". Said Wafi, a bank worker from the nearby
city of Boumerdes, had arrived at 5:00 am in the hope of being "the first
demonstrator against the system". "Bouteflika leaving means nothing
if his men continue to run the country," the 42-year-old said.

'Victory is
partial'

One of the
leading voices of the protest movement, lawyer Mustapha Bouchachi, has called
for the demonstrations to continue "until they have all gone".
"Our victory is partial," he said in a video posted online.
"Algerians will not accept that symbols of the regime... lead the interim
period and organize the next elections."

But protestors
expressed hope that the system would see real change. Zoubir Challal, who like
many young unemployed Algerians had considered a dangerous Mediterranean
crossing to seek a better life in Europe, carried a sign bearing the slogan:
"For the first time, I don't want to leave you, my country." The huge
rally in Algiers concluded early evening, with protesters dispersing peacefully
as on previous Fridays. Demonstrators are calling for new transitional
institutions to be set up to implement reforms and organize free elections.

Hamza Meddeb, an
independent analyst in Tunisia, said Algeria was entering "a very delicate
phase, because the street and the institutions are at risk of diverging".
The army's intentions are a key question, according to analysts. Despite
abandoning his patron Bouteflika, who named him army chief in 2004, General
Gaid Salah is still seen by protesters as a key defender of the
"system". But protestors on Friday chanted: "The army and the
people are brothers!" Said Zeroual, 75, said he hoped Algeria would regain
"our freedom and our sovereignty". "I hope to live long enough
to see democracy in my country," he said. - AFP