ALGIERS, Algeria -- With Algerian flags on their backs, people of all ages marched Friday through Algeria's capital and other cities under heavy security for protests against longtime leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
The crowds packing leafy boulevards throughout central Algiers appeared bigger than a week ago, when hundreds of thousands took to the streets to demand an end to Bouteflika's 20-year rule.
Chanting "Bouteflika, Get Out" and other slogans, diverse groups converged on three public plazas that have become focal points for an exceptional, monthlong public uprising against the country's leadership. Their numbers surged after midday Muslim prayers.
Algerians have barely seen Bouteflika in public since he suffered a 2013 stroke, and many are angry at a power structure widely seen as corrupt. Millions struggle to make ends meet despite the country's gas wealth.
Algerian media outlets reported protests in several cities around Africa's biggest country. Students, teachers, judges and unions were among those joining Friday's protests.
Riot police vans lined side streets of Algiers and surveillance helicopters circled overhead.
Young women took selfies with smiling police officers. Shops along the march routes turned a brisk profit selling Algerian flags and pizza or honey-filled pastries. The diverse crowd included women with and without headscarves, and fathers carrying children on their shoulders.
The protesters want to send a mass message that they are rejecting Bouteflika's attempt this week to defuse Algeria's political crisis.
Bouteflika ceded to protesters' demands that he abandon plans for a fifth term, and promised changes addressing concerns of frustrated, struggling young people. But he also canceled the April 18 presidential election, a move that critics fear could allow him to cling to power.
Police surrounding Algiers' central post office appeared largely unarmed, and their plastic riot shields rested on the ground or in vans nearby in a sign that Algerian authorities want to avoid unrest or provoking public anger.
The crowd shouted down outspoken left-wing figure Karim Tabou when he tried to give a speech.
Former colonial ruler France, too, was criticized for perceived support for Bouteflika. Several protesters carried signs saying "No Interference from France" or criticizing French President Emmanuel Macron.
Some protesters held signs reading "Army, People, Same Fight," in an apparent appeal to the powerful army not to crack down on demonstrations.
So far the protest movement has been calm. But the specter of past violence haunts many Algerians, notably a civil war in the 1990s between Islamic insurgents and security forces that left some 200,000 dead.
Bouteflika is credited with helping reconcile the nation after that, but is accused of becoming increasingly out of touch as his presidency continues.
Information for this article was contributed by Angela Charlton of The Associated Press.
A Section on 03/16/2019