Jijel, Algeria News

People listen to Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on May 8, 2012 during a commemoration ceremony of the May 8, 1945 massacre in Setif when French authorities open fire against local demonstrators.

Algeria is gearing up for parliamentary elections on Thursday that promise to be the freest ever, but years of rigged polls and a weak legislature have left people cynical about politics in this oil rich North African nation.

In the gritty, working class Algiers suburb of Harrache, activists sporting the green baseball caps of the Islamist "Green" alliance handed out election leaflets outside their party headquarters, urging people to vote.

Residents of an Algerian town say police fired tear gas to subdue rampaging youth who torched tires and hurled stones after a young man set himself on fire.