Algeria war hero and protest icon dies

ALGIERS — Lakhdar Bouregaa, a highly respected veteran of Algeria's war of independence against France and a key figure in an anti-regime protest movement, has died at the age of 87.

"Lakhdar Bouregaa is now under God's protection," his son Hani Bouregaa wrote on Facebook late Wednesday, two weeks after the veteran's family announced he had contracted coronavirus.

The longtime opposition political figure, who spent the last half of 2019 in prison for his role in the Hirak mass protest movement, was buried at the Sidi Yahia cemetary in the hills above Algiers.

Hundreds of mourners turned out to pay their respects, despite coronavirus restrictions on gatherings.

Some shouted the Hirak protests movement's slogan "civilian state, not military!" and vowed "we will continue the fight!".

Social media users paid tribute to Bouregaa.

"We will remember him for his determination to keep pressing forwards, to pass on the torch to young people," wrote one Twitter user, adding that Bouregaa had possessed the "rare" quality of being a war hero who avoided being stuck in the past.

The Hirak protests flooded the streets of Algerian cities in early 2019, sweeping long-time president Abdelaziz Bouteflika from power.

Protesters continued to rally in their hundreds of thousands to demand deep political reforms, only suspending demonstrations as the coronavirus pandemic prompted a nationwide lockdown.

Around 90 of their supporters, including journalists and bloggers, are currently behind bars, according to the prisoners' support group CNLD.

But the Hirak has sought to keep up the political pressure, including by boycotting a referendum on constitutional changes that took place on Sunday -- an exercise it dubbed regime window-dressing.

The poll yielded a meagre official turnout of 23.7 per cent, the lowest in a national poll since independence.

State television had initially announced that Bouregaa would be buried in the El Alia cemetery in the capital Algiers, the resting place of former heads of state and other heroes of the 1954 to 1962 independence war.