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ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Algeria's state news agency says President Abdelaziz Bouteflika returned to his country Friday after a five-day visit to Geneva for what his office described as a "periodic medical checkup."
No further detail was offered about the nature of the president's visit or his current condition.
Bouteflika left for Geneva five days ago, a trip that heightened concern over the 79-year-old's health. Bouteflika suffered a stroke in 2013 and only rarely appears on television; rumors about the leader's condition intensified after a photo was posted on French Prime Minister Manuel Valls' Twitter account on April 10 in which Bouteflika appeared gaunt and weakened.
Bouteflika took office in 1999 and has been re-elected three times, with the constitution modified to do away with a limit on presidential mandates.
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