Two former ranking members of a banned Islamist party called on Algerians on Wednesday to demand that all bars and stores where alcoholic beverages are sold be shut down.
The two, Hachemi Sahnouni, who helped found the Islamic Salvation Front, and Abderazak Zeraoui Hamadache, said that alcohol is "perverting our youth and destroying our religious morals."
Their bid to end the sale of alcohol is significant because this Muslim North African country is in the process of defeating Islamist insurgents waging war since 1992. The call to close all bars recalls the period referred to as the "black decade" in the 1990s when extremists imposed their will on many villages and cities. [AP] Read more
