Former Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika dies aged 84

Abdelaziz Bouteflika served as President of Algeria for almost 20 years, from 1999 to his resignation in 2019.

Bouteflika served during the Algerian War as a member of the National Liberation Front (Algeria). After Algeria gained its independence from France, he served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs between 1963 until 1979. He served as President of the United Nations General Assembly during the 1974–1975 session.

In 1999, Bouteflika was elected president of Algeria after all other candidates withdrew from the election immediately prior to the vote, citing fraud concerns. He would win re-election in 2004, 2009, and 2014.

As President, he presided over the end of the bloody Algerian Civil War in 2002 when he took over the project of his immediate predecessor President Liamine Zéroual, and he ended emergency rule in February 2011 amidst regional unrest.

Bouteflika resigned on 2 April 2019 after months of mass protests. With nearly 20 years in power, he is the longest-serving head of state of Algeria to date. (ILKHA)