ALGIERS (Islamweb & agencies) - Paramilitary gendarmes mounted roadblocks at the eastern entrances to the Algerian capital Thursday, thwarting a protest march by thousands of minority Berbers that followed weeks of social unrest.The tight security prevented up to 7,000 delegates from towns, villages and tribes in Kabylie from marching to the presidential compound to press their social demands. The planned march, on Algeria's Independence Day, had set them on a collision course with the military-backed government, which had vowed to uphold its ban on demonstrations in Algiers. Social unrest has rocked the vast North African country for more than two months and scores of young protesters have been killed by security forces in street clashes. The government banned marches in the capital after violence flared at a June 14 rally that drew up to 1 million people. The Berbers, who say they are the original inhabitants of North Africa and who have long had tense relations with Algiers, wanted to hand a 15-point manifesto to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. About 1,000 people made it to May 1 Square in central Algiers, where the march was due to have started, and chanted ''Government murderer'' and ``Oulach s'mah'' (No forgiveness). They staged a sit-in for about three hours before dispersing peacefully. Riot police were deployed around the square and at the city's main intersections. Unrest began in April after the death of a Berber teen-ager in police custody. The planned march was organized by the Coordinating Committee of Arches (tribes), a loosely structured Berber network with no known leadership and a rotating presidency. It was set up after the eruption of violent clashes in April and members say it will last until Berber demands are met. PHOTO CAPTION: FILE--Algerian police use a water canon to disperse protesters during clashes with police in Algiers in this June 14, 2001 file photo. When Algeria's powerful military regime imposed a ban on demonstrations in this seaside capital to prevent a repeat of the June 14 protest that drew 1 million people, the nation's rebellious Berbers responded by announcing the date of the next demonstration. (AP Photo/Nabil, File)