Algerians are planning an anti-government protest in the capital a week after thousands of demonstrators were confronted by 30,000 riot police at the same venue

Algerians are planning an anti-government protest in the capital, Algiers, a week after thousands of demonstrators were confronted by 30,000 riot police at the same venue.

The protest, scheduled to take place on Saturday around May 1 Square, the site of last week's rally, has been organized by the National Co-ordination for Change and Democracy (CNCD).

The month-old umbrella group is made up of the political opposition, the Algerian human rights league and trade unions.

The CNCD wants the immediate end of the government of Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Algeria's president, citing the same problems of high unemployment, housing and soaring costs that inspired uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

Another anti-government protest is scheduled to take place in the Mediterranean city of Oran, where - contrary to a week ago - local officials changed course and authorized it.

Rising food prices led to five days of riots in Algeria last month that left three people dead.

Bouteflika has promised to lift a 19-year state of emergency by month's end in a nod to the growing mass of disgruntle citizens.