The memory of the bloody months of Ramadan, the Muslim holy fast month starting Thursday evening, 14 October, during the years of the civil war in the 1990s still instill fear in the Algerian population.
The government has already placed the security services on high alert, with even more roadblocks than usual springing up over the country, particularly on the entrances and exits to the capital. According to the French newspaper, la liberte, old practices such as forbidding parking near public buildings and schools has been reinstituted.
Such is the government's fear of an incident, that a free phone line has been established so that any suspicion can be reported to the police. As yet no formal threats have been reported but the authorities are unwilling to take a chance.
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
