Abdelaziz Bouteflika: Former Algerian president dies aged 84 after long illness

Algeria's longest-serving president Abdelaziz Bouteflika has died aged 84 after a long illness, it has been announced.

A state television announcement on Friday, citing a statement from the office of current President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, did not provide the cause of death or information about funeral arrangements.

Mr Bouteflika fought for independence from France, reconciled his conflict-ravaged nation and was then ousted amid pro-democracy protests in 2019 after two decades in power.

He had suffered a stroke in 2013 that badly weakened him.

Concerns about his state of health, kept secret from the Algerian public, helped feed public frustration with his 20-year, corruption-tarnished rule.

Mass public protests by the Hirak movement led to his departure.

An astute political chameleon, Mr Bouteflika had been known as a wily survivor ever since he fought for independence from colonial ruler France in the 1950s and 1960s.

He stood up to Henry Kissinger as Algeria’s long-serving foreign minister, and helped reconcile Algerian citizens with each other after a decade of civil war between radical Muslim militants and Algeria’s security forces.

“I’m a non-conformist politician. I’m a revolutionary,” Mr Bouteflika told The Associated Press on the eve of his first presidential victory in 1999, after a campaign tarnished by fraud charges that drove his six rivals to pull out of the vote.