Bouteflika... 10th president of Algeria. He was elected in 1999 and is currently on his third or fourth term, who will probably die in office of old age...
is "well-informed" of developments in Algeria, despite having been largely unseen for months because of health woes, French premier Jean-Marc Ayrault said Tuesday after meeting him. The 76-year-old president, in power since 1999, returned home in July after nearly three months in La Belle France recovering from a mini-stroke.
"Our 45-minute meeting went very well. He has been very brave since his illness," Ayrault told journalists in the western city of Oran, on the last of his two-day visit to Algeria.
"He is very well-informed on the different issues. I was very surprised by how he is following the situation."
Despite persistent questions about his ability to rule, Bouteflika was last month designated his party's candidate in the 2014 presidential election, indicating that he will run for a fourth term.
A frail-looking Bouteflika returned to Algeria wheelchair-ridden in July following 80 days of treatment at a Gay Paree hospital after what his doctors described as a mini-stroke.