Abdelaziz Bouteflika

Who is Abdelaziz Bouteflika?

Abdelaziz Bouteflika is an Algerian politician who has been the fifth President of Algeria since 1999. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1963 to 1979. As President, he presided over the end of the bloody Algerian Civil War in 2002, and he had ended emergency rule in February 2011 amidst regional unrest. He has also served as president of the United Nations General Assembly.

Protests in Algeria took place between 2010 and 2012; protesters demanded a regime change, as well as solutions to problems with unemployment, corruption, restrictions of freedom of speech, and poor living conditions.

In November 2012, he surpassed Houari Boumédienne as the longest-serving President of Algeria.