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Algeria Army Chief Says 'Certain Parties' Seeking Constitutional Vacuum

Reuters

   ALGIERS - Algeria's army chief of staff Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaed
   Salah on Tuesday accused some parties of favoring a constitutional
   vacuum in order to prolong the country's political crisis.

   Veteran leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika stepped down as president on April
   2 following two months of mass protests that demanded democratic
   reforms and the prosecution of people viewed by the demonstrators as
   corrupt.

   But the demonstrations have continued, seeking the removal of the whole
   ruling elite that has governed the North African nation since
   independence from France in 1962.

   "Certain parties want to enter a dark tunnel called 'constitutional
   vacuum,'" a defense ministry statement quoted Gaed Salah as saying at a
   military base in the southwestern province of Bechar.

   "This means the destruction of the foundations of the Algerian national
   state."

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