ALGIERS : Fundamentalist Takeover?

Electioneering prior to crucial balloting to fill Algeria’s 430-seat National Assembly will be closely monitored by police hoping to prevent a repeat of the violent anti-government protests that last June caused the legislative elections to be postponed.

The Muslim fundamentalist group that won most of the local election contests last year ended weeks of speculation when it confirmed that it will join 48 other parties contesting the national poll. Only members of the National Liberation Front, which led Algeria’s war against French colonial rule, currently sit in the assembly. The announcement by the Islamic Salvation Front set the stage for a possible fundamentalist takeover in voting scheduled for Dec. 26.