Islamic militant rebels in Algeria killed 23 people last night as the country prepared to go to the polls in parliamentary elections.
The killings occurred in the village of Sendjas in Chlef province, 125 miles west of Algiers. Three of the victims ,were set on fire, the official news agency APS said.
This is the second poll since 1992, when the cancellation of a general election led to a bloody uprising. A now banned Muslim fundamentalist party was expected to win the 1992 poll.
Turnout is expected to be low with the main secular opposition parties boycotting the election. They are accusing the military-backed authorities of planning massive fraud, as in the previous legislative poll in 1997.
"We're staying away from these elections because the present institutions are the product of electoral fraud in 1997 and 1999," said Mr Ahmed Djeddai, first secretary of the Socialist Forces Front.