‘No worries’ on Algeria’s Bouteflika health: campaign manager
Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has almost completed the medical tests at the Swiss hospital he was transferred to on February 24, the head of his controversial re-election campaign said Thursday.
Abdelghani Zaalane insisted the 82-year-old leader’s health raised “no worries” and that he would be vindicated by a silent majority in Algeria who have not joined huge protests against his candidacy.
The medical tests which Bouteflika has been undergoing in a Geneva hospital are “almost completed” and “his state of health raises no worries”, Zaalane told El Khabar newspaper.
He did not give a date for the president’s return to Algeria.
On Friday, opposition figure Rachid Nekkaz was arrested at the same hospital where President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is reportedly being treated in Geneva.
Nekkaz, who had sought to run against Bouteflika in Algeria’s upcoming elections, was arrested inside the University Hospitals of Geneva, police spokeswoman Joanna Matta said.
ka’s decision to put himself forward for the April 18 election has drawn tens of thousands of protesters onto the streets.
In a bid to calm public ire, Bouteflika has pledged to step down early if re-elected to a fifth term in office.