Algeria vows to end state of emergency after 19 years

Algeria's government has approved a plan to lift a state of emergency that has been in place for 19 years.

The move is seen as a bid to defuse spiralling and potentially dangerous discontent in the North African country amid successive uprisings in the Arab world. However, the exact date for the relaxation has not yet been confirmed.

A state of emergency was declared in the early 1990s as Algeria descended into a civil war between Islamists and government forces, after the army stepped in to annul an election won by the fundamentalist Islamic Salvation Front. The resulting war lasted years, killing up to 200,000 people and was the precursor to the extremist violence that has affected parts of the world since.

Violence in Algeria has tapered off in recent years with many former radicals making their peace with the government of president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, and attacks by militants are now only sporadic.

The government long insisted the state of emergency was a necessary tool in the fight against terrorism, but critics say it has been used to muzzle the political opposition in what is an important energy-exporting country.

Though the contents of the government's plan are not clear, authorities are expected to maintain a ban on street demonstrations in the capital, making the government's move only a partial victory for opposition forces seeking the right to protest.

The lifting of the state of emergency will take effect when a decree is published in the country's official gazette. The exact timing of the publication is still unknown, but yesterday's statement from the presidency said it would be "imminent".