Embattled Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika landed at a military airport south of the capital, Algiers and quickly departed in a convoy after spending two weeks in a Swiss hospital.
The arrival of the 82-year-old Bouteflika coame amid massive demonstrations demanding he withdraw his candidacy for a fifth term as president.
Bouteflika suffered a stroke in 2013 and has rarely been seen in public since. The decision to run for a new term in the April 18 election angered large swathes of Algerian society. Bouteflika arrived at Boufarik military south about 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of the capital, and was shown in video by private television station Ennahar in a convoy heading toward Algiers. He could be seen inside a car slightly bent over and with a cap on his head.
Bouteflika resides in the Algiers suburb of Zeralda, not in the presidential palace in the capital.
Meanwhile, housands of students took to the streets of Algeria yesterday against Bouteflika’s bid for a fifth term, as schools shut and transport in the capital halted as part of a protest strike.
No trains, metros, trams or buses left or circulated within Algiers, employees of the companies running those networks told AFP. Around 1,000 high school students gathered peacefully in central Algiers, while others marched in cities elsewhere.
Most shops in the capital’s commercial centre were closed yesterday, an AFP reported. Residents said shops were also closed in the poor district of Bab el Oued and in the suburb of Zeralda, but they were open in other areas. As protests have gained pace over the past two weeks, Bouteflika has been in Switzerland for what his office has called routine medical checks.
Local news site TSA said strikes by workers had brought sugar and oil production “to a halt” at the privately-owned Cevital firm, and also hit several sectors at state-owned oil giant Sonatrach.
Bouteflika has been in power since 1999 but suffered a stroke in 2013, and his rare public appearances since have been in a wheelchair.