Algerians Tense On Election Eve

Threatened by bombs and other violence from Muslim insurgents, Algerians are about to vote in their first parliamentary elections since an army-backed coup canceled a 1992 vote Islamic fundamentalists looked certain to win.

If completed, today’s election will produce the country’s first multiparty parliament after 35 years of independence and more than 130 years of French colonial rule.

Forty parties are fielding candidates in the election for 380 parliamentary seats. Polls were to be open today from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., with results expected hours later.

The bustling Algerian capital was under tight guard by security forces, who began deploying Wednesday at polling stations around the country.

President Liamine Zeroual, a retired general, sees the vote and restoration of an elected parliament as a step toward ending the insurgency, which has been fed by desperation over unemployment and corruption.

The Islamic Salvation Front - the party that nearly won the 1992 elections - has since been banned and its leaders are still jailed or in exile.