Algeria's Bouteflika back in the country after medical visit

Algeria’s president Abdelaziz Bouteflika has returned to Algiers after a visit to Geneva, Switzerland.

The 79-year-old leader was in Geneva for what is described as a periodic medical check up by the presidency.

Bouteflika has governed the north African country for over 15 years and has visited Paris and Geneva a number of times since he suffered a stroke in 2013 and was hospitalised in a French hospital for several months.

The president who was re-elected for a 4th term in 2014 has kept a low profile and has only been seen in periodic state television images and photographs.

His illness has prompted speculation about a possible transition from a leader who helped bring the country out of war in the 1990s with Islamist fighters into more economic stability during the times of high oil prices.

Reuters