Algeria adds police as Berber demands stir clash

Police have clashed with an ancient mountainous people in the most serious internal strife in Algeria since the nation gained independence from France in 1962, French news media reported Wednesday. The reports said the Algerian government sent police reinforcements to Kabylia, where the population is on strike to demand respect for its ancient Berber culture along side the predominant Arab culture. The Kabyls, the oldest population of North Africa, have been living in their mountainous retreat since being driven out of coastal plains by the Romans and later the Arabs.