Algerian Women Remember their Civil War Dead

Several dozen Algerians marked International Women's Day Saturday with a demonstration in Algiers to remember hundreds of women killed by Islamists in the 1990s.

The families of people who disappeared during the civil war that rocked the North African country held a separate protest to demand the truth about what had happened to their loved ones.

"No to forgetting all the women killed" during the 1992-2002 civil war, rights activist Dr Fadhela Chitour told Agence France Presse.

"The eighth of March is not a holiday when we send flowers -- historically, it's a day of combat," she added.

Under the watchful eye of police, demonstrators held portraits of women who had been killed in the decade of deadly violence.

The Algerian civil war killed 200,000 people, according to official figures.

It erupted after the army suspended an electoral process when the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) won the first round of a parliamentary vote in 1991.

Also on Saturday, relatives of people missing since the civil war protested to demand the truth about the disappearances.

They also said they opposed a fourth term for Abdelaziz Bouteflika who is standing in the presidential election on April 17.

"No to a fourth term" and " No to Algeria with an old man as president!" they shouted before being dispersed by police, an AFP journalist said.