Sharjah24 - Reuters: Former Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has died at 84, the presidency said on Friday, more than two years after he stepped down under pressure from mass protests and the army.
Bouteflika had ruled the North African country for two decades before his resignation in April 2019 after street demonstrations rejecting his plan to seek a fifth term.
He had rarely been seen in public before his departure since a stroke in 2013.
After Bouteflika's resignation, in a bid to end the protests demanding political and economic reforms, authorities launched unprecedented investigations into corruption, leading to the imprisonment of several senior officials, including Bouteflika's powerful brother and advisor, Said. Said has been jailed for 15 years on charges including plotting against the state.
After Algeria's independence from France in 1962, former president Bouteflika became Algeria's first foreign minister and an influential figure in the Non-Aligned Movement that gave a global voice to Africa, Asia and Latin America.
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