Algerian president returns home amid protests

ALGIERS

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Sunday arrived in Algeria after having a treatment in the Swiss city of Geneva amid mass protests against his re-election bid.

The 82-year-old Bouteflika's plane landed at 4.30 p.m. local time (1530GMT) in Boufarik military airport in the northern Blida province of Algeria, according to Swedish internet-based "Flightradar24" service that shows real-time commercial aircraft flight information.

Local sources reported that large security measures were taken at the airport.

Last month, Algeria’s ruling National Liberation Front nominated Bouteflika -- who has ruled Algeria since 1999 -- to run for a fifth term in office.

Since then, for the third consecutive week, thousands of Algerians in different parts of the country, including the capital Algiers, took to the streets to protest Bouteflika’s bid to secure a fifth term in power.

Opposition figures have repeatedly urged the aging president, who in 2013 was treated for a blood clot in the brain, to refrain from contesting the election.

* Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev

ALGIERS

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Sunday arrived in Algeria after having a treatment in the Swiss city of Geneva amid mass protests against his re-election bid.

Local sources reported that large security measures were taken at the airport.

Last month, Algeria’s ruling National Liberation Front nominated Bouteflika -- who has ruled Algeria since 1999 -- to run for a fifth term in office.

Opposition figures have repeatedly urged the aging president, who in 2013 was treated for a blood clot in the brain, to refrain from contesting the election.

* Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev