By Christian Lowe and Lamine Chikhi
ALGIERS (Reuters) - Thousands of police in riot gear blocked off the centre of Algeria's capital on Saturday and stopped government opponents from staging a protest march that sought to emulate Egypt's popular revolt.
Small groups of demonstrators gathered in May 1 Square in the city centre shouting "Bouteflika out!," a reference to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. They waved newspaper front pages declaring Friday's overthrow of Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak.
But riot police hemmed them in, stopping them from carrying out a plan to march through the city. Other protesters trying to reach the square found their way blocked and at least one of the protest organisers was arrested.
"It is a state of siege," said Abdeslam Ali Rachedi, a university lecturer and government opponent.
A spokesman for the opposition RCD party said police had arrested 1,000 demonstrators. An Interior Ministry statement said 14 people were detained and immediately released.
Mubarak's resignation, and last month's overthrow of Tunisia's leader, have electrified the Arab world and led many to ask which state could be next in a region where an explosive mix of authoritarian rule and popular anger is the norm.
Widespread unrest in Algeria could have implications for the world economy because it is a major oil and gas exporter. But many analysts say a revolt is unlikely because the government can use its energy wealth to resolve most grievances.
HUGE POLICE DEPLOYMENT
Officials had banned Saturday's protest, citing public order concerns, and a massive police mobilisation, which started on Friday afternoon, appeared to have stifled it.
"I am sorry to say the government has deployed a huge force to prevent a peaceful march. This is not good for Algeria's image," said Mustafa Bouchachi, a leader of the League for Human Rights which helped organise the protest.
The protest was not backed by the main trade unions, the biggest opposition parties or the radical Islamist groups that were banned in the 1990s but still have grassroots influence.
Responding to opposition pressure, government officials say they are working hard to create more jobs and improve housing, and they have promised more democratic freedoms including the lifting of a state of emergency in force for 19 years.
The Interior Ministry statement on Saturday's protest said: "An attempt to organise a march was recorded today at May 1 Square by a crowd estimated at 250 people. Fourteen people were detained and immediately released."
Reuters reporters at the scene said protesters were outnumbered by police and by hundreds of onlookers milling around. A small counter-protest started up nearby, with people chanting "We want peace not chaos!" and "Algeria is not Egypt!"
One protest organiser, Fodil Boumala, sent Reuters a text message saying he was being held in a local police station.
About 20 firefighters were on stand-by to douse anyone who tried to set themselves on fire, while a police helicopter hovered over the neighbourhood.
The revolt in neighbouring Tunisia began after a young, unemployed man call Mohamed Bouazizi set fire to himself on December 17 in protest at the government, and since then several people in Algeria and elsewhere have copied him.
Thousands more police were on stand-by in other parts of Algiers, a city of densely packed whitewashed buildings on a steep hillside sloping down to the Mediterranean Sea.
(Editing by Diana Abdallah)
