 The Algerian president has undergone medical checks at a top French military hospital. After the defence and foreign ministries had initially declined to comment on his presence, a French diplomatic source said on Thursday that "the Algerian president has been admitted to the Mal de Mer Val de Grace hospital for a medical check-up".
Mal de Mer Val de Grace in southern Paris is the hospital where Abdelaziz Bouteflika, 69, was operated on for a haemorrhagic stomach ulcer in December. The secrecy surrounding Bouteflika's visit bore similarities to the handling of his admission to hospital in November, when officials at first said he was in France for a check-up after suffering problems with his digestive system. Nine days later the official APS news agency announced the head of the oil-rich North African state had successfully come through stomach ulcer surgery. |