Abdelaziz Bouteflika returns to Algeria amid mass protests
Tens of thousands of people have demonstrated over the past three weeks over his decision to stand in April election
Algiers — Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika returned home on Sunday after spending two weeks in a Swiss hospital, state television said, while protesters have massed at home and abroad in the biggest threat to his 20-year rule. An Algerian government plane transporting the president arrived at Boufarik military airport just southwest of the capital. Top Algerian officials often use that airport. Tens of thousands of Algerians of all social classes have been demonstrating against Bouteflika's decision to stand in April's election, rejecting a stagnant political system dominated by veterans of the independence war against France which ended in 1962. In the clearest indication yet that the generals sympathise with protesters, the chief of staff said the military and the people had a united vision of the future, state TV reported. Lt-Gen Gaed Salah did not mention the unrest. Bouteflika's ruling FLN party urged all sides to work together to end the crisis and promote national reco...
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