2 killed in riots over rising food prices

Algerian protesters throw stones at anti-riot policeman during clashes which erupted in Belcour district of Algiers' city centre. -- PHOTO: AFP

ALGIERS - TWO demonstrators died in spreading unrest over rising food prices in this North African nation, the interior minister said on Saturday and the government announced that it will cut the cost of sugar and cooking oil.

The deaths were the first reported in the four days of unrest sweeping the cities of Algeria, where a brutal Islamist insurgency raged for decades.

At least 300 police officers and some 100 demonstrators have also been injured since Wednesday when youths began rioting over rising prices of staples like sugar, Interior Minister Dahou Ould Kablia said on national radio.

One protester was shot to death by police on Friday as he tried to enter the police station during rioting in Ain Lahdjel, in the M'Sila region, some 350km south-east of Algiers, the capital, Kablia said. The other died in Bou Ismail, some 40km west of Algiers, he said, without providing other information.

In a bid to quell the violence, which has left some public buildings in ruins, the government said on Saturday it was slashing the prices of sugar and cooking oil by 41 per cent. -- AP