Algerians stage picnics in protest against 'forced' fasting

A march of protest followed the picnic in Aokas, near Béjaïa. The sign translates, 'Stop Salafists and Wahabites,' two Islamist groups. (World Watch Monitor)

Around 200 people ate together at a public lunch in the town of Tizi Ouzou on Saturday to protest against the "persecution of non-fasters and creeping Islamisation" in the Kabylie region in northern Algeria.

Sandwiches and soft drinks were shared during a picnic held just a short stroll from the headquarters of the local law enforcement agencies, which looked on but did not act.

In Algeria, where Islam is the state religion, breaking the Ramadan fast in public is punishable by fine and imprisonment. Read more