Algerians on elections amid cease-fire

Algerian local council candidates have hit the campaign trail for October 23 local elections seen by authorities as another step to restoring authority in a state shaken by nearly 6 years of bloodshed.

An Algerian resident said that candidates had already been seen mingling with their constituencies, but there was very little activity and no sign of heavy security that is usualy affiliated with those events.

Two legal Islamist-leaning parties will compete in the elections in the country of 30 million people, Al Ahrar said today. The country has been wracked by massacres of civilians attributed to Islamist extremist groups, which have continued despite a recent ceasefire called by one Islamist group, the Islamic Salvation Army.