- Sputnik International
Africa
Get the latest Africa news from Sputnik: breaking news, photos, videos, analysis, and features.

Algerian President in Swiss Hospital Amid Student Protests - Reports

© AP Photo / Kayhan Ozer/PoolAbdelaziz Bouteflika
Abdelaziz Bouteflika - Sputnik International
Subscribe
Earlier, thousands of students gathered in the country's capital and university campuses across the country to protest 81-year-old President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's bid for a fifth term in office despite reported ill-health ahead of elections in April.

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is being treated at the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG), where he has been held since Sunday, the Tribune de Geneve newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing what AFP said were "multiple and well-informed sources."

The president's office earlier announced his plans to travel to the European country for "routine medical checks."

According to Swiss media, the octogenarian president has received medical care in Switzerland since the 1980s. 

Algerian flag (File) - Sputnik International
Thousands of Students in Algeria Protest President’s Reelection Bid
President Bouteflika suffered a stroke in 2013 and spent several weeks at a French hospital. The veteran politician has been in power since 1991, and served as the country's defence minister and foreign minister in previous administrations going back to the 1960s.

In 2002, Bouteflika presided over the end of the Algerian civil war between the government a coalition of Islamist militants. In recent years, terrorist groups have reportedly resumed their activities, waging low-intensity warfare against Algerian defence forces.

A general view taken on June 5, 2014 shows the Grand Mosque (R) situated on the promenade along the Bay of Algiers with the old town of the Algerian capital known as the Kasbah in the background. - Sputnik International
Africa
How Soon Until Algeria's Islamist Extremism 'Vaccine' Wears Off?
On Tuesday, thousands of students rallied across Algeria to protest Bouteflika's bid for a fifth term in office, demonstrating at university campuses across the country and in the capital Algiers.

Algerians are set to go to the polls on 18 April. The opposition remains split despite earlier efforts to field a single candidate to challenge Bouteflika.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала