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Episode details

World Service,21 Feb 2011,10 mins

Algeria emergency

Witness History

Available for over a year

Rioting in Algeria in October 1988 killed around 500 people and started a period of political turmoil. A short-lived experiment in democracy ended in a violent civil war between Islamists and the Algerian army. A state of emergency remains in force until today. Witness speaks to a foreign journalist and an Algerian student who both experienced a turning point in the country's history. (Photo: Algiers citizens help to clean up the main avenue of the Belcourt area in Algiers 08 October 1988 after three days of rioting.) (Credit: STF/AFP/Getty Images)

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