MID-EAST REALITIES © - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 6/14: The Berbers in Algeria, the brutal civil war in Sudan, the Palestinians in the once Holy Land, the Kurds in Iraq and Turkey, the ongoing Kashmir crisis -- all conflicts exploding throughout the greater Middle East region today in 2001, all conflicts the legacy of Western colonial policies of yesteryear and American imperial policies of today. Add to this extremely volatile situation the reality that secret police and disguised military regimes rule throughout the region in most cases armed and trained by the Americans -- including continuing Hashemite rule on the East Bank of the Jordan and Saudi Royal rule in Arabia -- and no wonder the Director of the CIA himself, plus of course all the other top officials of the American government, are spending more and more time plugging the holes in the badly leaking dike of "client regimes" and remote control from Washington (often with much Israeli input and manipulation). Today, major clashes erupting in Algeria where about a decade ago the Army took over, with much American and French help, rather than allow the leading Muslims parties to come to power by election:

ALGIERS, June 14 (AFP) - Police and protesters clashed violently in the Algerian capital Thursday during a massive ethnic Berber-led protest against the government of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

An AFP correspondent saw police firing live bullets on protesters in the port area, where some had begun looting warehouses. It was unknown whether the shooting, which came from a police vehicle, claimed any casualties.

Other clashes occurred at the May 1 Square, where police had formed a cordon to prevent the hundreds of thousands of mainly young people protesting alleged state repression in the northeastern Berber homeland of Kabylie from marching on Bouteflika's offices.

Protesters at the head of the march tried to break through the cordon by throwing stones and other projectiles at police, who responded by firing tear gas and using water cannons.

People were seen arriving at the main hospital in Algiers, some with bloodied faces, and police followed them into the hospital grounds.

Local newspapers had forecast that up to two million people would join the protest, which comes against a backdrop of rapidly rising discontent with Bouteflika's rule that has sparked bloody rioting in Kabylie and other parts of the northeast.

From early morning, ethnic Berbers streamed by the thousands into Algiers from Kabylie, crowded in cars, trucks and buses.

They were joined by residents of Algiers sympathetic to their cause and fed up with Bouteflika.

Most of them youths, many walked bare-chested under a blazing sun, raising black flags as a sign of mourning and sporting a painted "Z" on their backs or chests to represent the Berber language Tamazight.

Others toted posters bearing slogans such as "No forgiveness in Kabylie", "Murderous government" and "Enough of this government".

Still others held portraits of Berber singer Matoub Lounes, a critic of both the government and the Islamic fundamentalist movement in Algeria who was killed by unknown assailants in 1998, and chanted his songs.

At around 2:00 pm police were seen trying to move demonstrators away from the May 1 Square towards the port area, where looters were stealing goods including vehicles from warehouses.

Demonstrators pulled brand new cars, vans, minibuses and trucks out of warehouses and torched them, an AFP correspondent said.

Many other fires were set, including at a bus terminal and a government building, casting a pall of thick black smoke over Algiers.

An international fair opened by the president on Wednesday had to close in the face of the protests.

The Berber discontent, rooted in longstanding grievances over perceived discrimination, has mushroomed into far broader resentment over unemployment, lack of adequate housing and the role of the paramilitary police in Kabylie.

Berbers began rioting in Kabylie in April, facing off with police for six weeks.

The police crackdown left between 60 and 80 people dead, according to unofficial estimates.

Among the first to arrive for the Algiers protest on Thursday were residents of Bejaia, a main city in the Kabylie region where rioting erupted afresh on Wednesday after a brief lull.

Youths erected barricades and faced off with police after destroying street lamps, shattering windows of public buildings and torching cars. Furniture from the local tax office was thrown into the street.

Anger and dissatisfaction with Bouteflika's government has spread beyond the Berber homeland, this week reaching the northeastern towns of Khenchela, Skikda and Ain Fakroun, and southward to Dirah.

Newspapers, meanwhile, reported Thursday that 24 people were shot during rioting outside the town hall in Ain Fakroun on Wednesday, eight of whom were said to be in a serious condition.