The state of emergency in Algeria, which has been in force for 19 years, will end within days, says Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci.
The state of emergency in Algeria - which has been in force for 19 years - will end within days, says Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci.
He brushed off concerns that recent protests in the country could escalate, as in Tunisia and Egypt.
A state of emergency has been in force in Algeria since 1992 and the government has come under pressure from opponents, inspired by uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, to ditch emergency laws.
Several hundred protestors took to the streets in the capital Algiers on Saturday and opposition groups said they would demonstrate every weekend until the government is changed.
'In the coming days, we will talk about (the state of emergency) as if it was a thing of the past,' Mr Medelci told the French radio station Europe 1 in an interview.
'That means that in Algeria we will have a return to a state of law that allows complete freedom of expression, within the limits of the law,' he said.
Recent protests had been organised by minority groups with limited support, the minister said, adding that there was no risk of a government overthrow as in neighbouring Tunisia.
However, he suggested the government may be willing to make concessions, saying: 'The decision to change the government lies with the president who will assess the possibility, as he has done in the past, to make adjustments, as he has done in the past.
'Algeria is not Tunisia or Egypt.'
