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Abdelaziz Bouteflika

Abdelaziz Bouteflika
عبد العزيز بوتفليقة‎
Bouteflika (Algiers, Feb 2006).jpeg
5th President of Algeria
Assumed office
27 April 1999
Prime Minister Smail Hamdani
Ahmed Benbitour
Ali Benflis
Ahmed Ouyahia
Abdelaziz Belkhadem
Ahmed Ouyahia
Abdelmalek Sellal
Youcef Yousfi (Acting)
Abdelmalek Sellal
Preceded by Liamine Zéroual
Minister of Defence
Assumed office
5 May 2003
Preceded by Liamine Zéroual
Personal details
Born (1937-03-02) 2 March 1937 (age 79)
Oujda, Morocco
Political party National Liberation Front
Spouse(s) Amal Triki
Religion Sunni Islam
Military service
Allegiance Algeria Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic
Service/branch National Liberation Army
Years of service 1954–1962
Battles/wars Algerian War

Abdelaziz Bouteflika (About this sound pronunciation ; Arabic: عبد العزيز بوتفليقة‎‎ ‘Abd al-‘Azīz Būtaflīqa [ʕaːbd lʕziz butfliqa]; born 2 March 1937) 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 ended emergency rule in February 2011 amidst regional unrest. He has also served as president of the United Nations General Assembly.

In November 2012, he surpassed Houari Boumediene as the longest-serving president of Algeria.

Abdelaziz Bouteflika was born on 2 March 1937 in Oujda, French protectorate in Morocco. He was the first child of his mother and the second child of his father (Fatima, his half-sister, preceded him). His father (Ahmed Bouteflika) and mother (Mansouria Ghezlaoui) originated from Tlemcen, Algeria. Bouteflika has three half-sisters (Fatima, Yamina, and Aïcha), as well as four brothers (Abdelghani, Mustapha, Abderahim and Saïd) and one sister (Latifa). Saïd serves as Abdelaziz Bouteflika's personal physician, and is said by some to be an important figure in Bouteflika's inner circle of advisers. A son of a zaouia sheikh, Abdelaziz Bouteflika memorized the Qur'an at young age. He continued his education in Oujda until high school. Later, he joined the Algerian Liberation Army (ALN), soon getting a promotion. In 1960, he was assigned with leading the Malian Front in the Algerian south, when he became known with his revolutionary name of Abdelkader al-Mali, which has survived until today.


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