Abdelaziz bouteflika biography for kids

After Algeria gained its independence from France, he served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs between until In he was convicted of stealing millions of dinars from Algerian embassies during his diplomatic career. In , Bouteflika was elected president of Algeria in a landslide victory. He would win re-elections in , , and Following a stroke in , Bouteflika had made few public appearances throughout his fourth term, making his final appearance in Bouteflika resigned on 2 April after months of mass protests.

With nearly 20 years in power, he is the longest-serving head of state of Algeria to date. Following his resignation, Bouteflika became a recluse and died at the age of 84 in , over two years after his resignation.

Algeria president

The son of a zaouia sheikh, he was well-versed in the Qur'an. He was also affiliated with Qadiriyya Zaouia in Oujda. In , Bouteflika went to the village of Ouled Amer near Tlemcen and subsequently joined—at the age of 19—the National Liberation Army, which was a military branch of the National Liberation Front. He became one of his closest collaborators and a core member of his Oujda Group.

In , he was assigned to leading the Malian Front in the Algerian south and became known for his nom de guerre of Abdelkader al-Mali, which has survived until today. Following independence in , Bouteflika became deputy for Tlemcen in the Constituent Assembly and Minister for Youth and Sport in the government led by Ahmed Ben Bella ; the following year, he was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs.

He was a prime mover in the military coup led by Houari Boumediene that overthrew Ben Bella on 19 June He also served as president of the United Nations General Assembly in and of the seventh special session in , becoming the youngest person to have done so. Algeria at this time was a leader of the Non-Aligned Nations Movement.