Algeria lifts 19-year-old state of emergency

ALGIERS, Algeria - Algeria on Thursday lifted a 19-year state of emergency in a concession to the opposition designed to keep out uprisings sweeping the Arab world.

Ending the emergency powers was one of the demands voiced by opposition groups which have been staging weekly protests in the Algerian capital that sought to emulate uprisings in Egypt and neighboring Tunisia.

However, one of the organizers of the protests said that lifting the state of emergency was not enough, and that the government must allow more democratic freedoms.