Algeria update #fev12

The above video is great commentary by the French specialist on Algeria Benjamin Stora. It explains the tension between the need for change and the fear of a return to the civil war of the 1990s. He argues Algerians are "exhausted" by the last 20 years of instability.

Le Monde highlights another type dueling trends: an opposition that has collapsed upon itself and has little credibility cannot give much leadership, but on the other hand youth anger gives momentum to the protests.

AFP notes few demonstrators today in Algiers and a big police presence.