Petrol stations overwhelmed by anxious drivers pending the march of February 12

Petrol stations packed by vehicles, bakeries doubled their production capacities and shops emptied by citizens that bought basic food stuffs to store them at home… armoured police cars cordoned off the official buildings and policemen patrolling along the main avenue linking May 1st square to martyrs’ square downtown Algiers;

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• That was the overall mood that prevailed in the streets of Algiers pending the unauthorized march scheduled for February 12, pushing several citizens to ask for a leave to avoid going to work for fear of likely troubles.
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• Queues at petrol stations
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• Few minutes after noon we roamed across the main streets of Algiers in a bid to have an idea about the general mood and were struck at the sight of long queues at the petrol stations. The citizens were forced to stay long hours inside their cars to fill their tanks before February 12 , to prevent any bad surprise.
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• Large presence of security forces in the streets
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• An impressive security plan was deployed across the main entries of the capital as riot police have cordoned off the main official buildings including the parliament and the public treasury. Several patrols were seen around the main public squares and along the itinerary of the march staged by the National Coordination for Change and Democracy.