ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Algeria's powerful army chief has retained his post in a newly-named government despite his call to have ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika declared unfit for office.

Algerian national television announced Sunday night that Bouteflika and Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui named a new government after weeks of mass protests and political tensions in this gas-rich North African country.

The new government notably keeps Ahmed Gaid Salah as army chief of staff and vice defense minister.

Gaid Salah shocked the nation with his call last week for the constitutional council to set in motion a process to end Bouteflika's 20-year presidency. Gaid Salah suggested Saturday that unnamed figures were plotting against him.

Millions of Algerians have been holding weekly protests demanding Bouteflika leave office. </s> Algerians set to continue protest for Bouteflika to quit

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Organizers in Algeria are predicting huge demonstrations across the country's major cities as protesters step up their demand for the resignation of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

It's the fifth straight Friday since nationwide anti-Bouteflika protests began Feb. 22 that Algerians have taken to the streets.

Workers of Sonatrach, the national oil company whose executives are close to Bouteflika, held a symbolic sit-in Thursday in solidarity with the protests that span all sections of society including the country's youth and doctors.

New Prime Minister Nourredine Bedoui is still struggling to form a government with many potential candidates sought to keep their distance from the unpopular president. </s> Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika will resign before his mandate expires on April 28, his office said on Monday, after a succession of loyalists deserted the ailing leader in recent days.

Bouteflika would take "steps to ensure state institutions continue to function during the transition period", the presidency said in a brief statement carried by the official APS news agency.

The 82-year-old would resign "before April 28, 2019", after "important decisions" were taken, it added, without specifying when these moves would occur.

Bouteflika has come under mounting pressure to step down since his decision to seek a fifth term despite rarely being seen in public after suffering a stroke in 2013.

The Algerian leader said last month he would pull out of the race and postponed April elections, in moves that angered protesters who saw it as a ploy to extend his two decades in power.

Faced with massive street protests across the North African country, a succession of veteran Bouteflika loyalists have deserted the president in recent days.

On Tuesday armed forces chief of staff General Ahmed Gaid Salah, who was appointed by Bouteflika in 2004, said the president should either resign or be declared medically unfit to govern by parliament using its constitutional powers.

And on Wednesday, key coalition ally the National Rally for Democracy (RND) headed by recently sacked prime minister Ahmed Ouyahia called for Bouteflika's resignation "with the aim of smoothing the period of transition".

Under the constitution, once his resignation is tendered, the speaker of Algeria's upper house of parliament, Abdelkader Bensalah, would act as interim leader for up to 90 days during which a presidential election must be organised. </s> ALGIERS, Algeria — Algeria's powerful army chief retained his post in a newly-named government despite his call to have ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika declared unfit for office.

Algerian national television announced Sunday night that Bouteflika and Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui named a new government after weeks of mass protests and political tensions in this gas-rich North African country.

The new government notably keeps Ahmed Gaid Salah as army chief of staff and vice defense minister.

Gaid Salah shocked the nation with his call last week for the constitutional council to set in motion a process to end Bouteflika's 20-year presidency. Critics accused Gaid Salah of trying to orchestrate a coup, and the army chief suggested Saturday that unnamed figures were plotting against him as a result of his stand against Bouteflika's presidency.

Millions of Algerians have been holding weekly protests demanding that Bouteflika leave office along with the distrusted political elite. Algerians have barely seen their president, now 82, since a 2013 stroke.

Also Sunday, a top Algerian businessman was arrested at an Algerian border post as he was apparently trying to go to Tunisia, Algerian media reported.

Journalists at tycoon Ali Haddad's private television channel Dzair News said he was arrested overnight in Oum Tboul, close to the Tunisian border.

Haddad, long a backer of Bouteflika, resigned this week as head of Algeria's Business Forum, apparently trying to distance himself from the unpopular leader whose government has been accused of corruption.

Bouteflika withdrew from running for a new term but canceled Algeria's April 18 presidential election. Pressure has mounted for him to step down before his current term expires later this month. </s> Algeria's state news agency says President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has informed a constitutional body he is resigning

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Algeria's state news agency says President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has informed a constitutional body he is resigning. </s> Algeria's chief of staff (right) has called for Mr Bouteflika to be declared unfit to govern

The Algerian army's chief of staff has called for President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to be declared unfit to govern after two decades in power.

In a televised speech, General Ahmed Gaid Salah said: "It is necessary, even imperative, to adopt a solution to get out of the crisis which responds to the legitimate demands of the Algerian people, and which guarantees the respect of the provisions of the constitution and safeguards the sovereignty of the state."

The army chief is the most senior official to turn against the 82-year-old president, whose long rule has prompted weeks of mass protests in the north African nation.

A possible solution to the crisis could be found in Article 102 of Algeria's constitution, under which parliament has the power to declare the president unfit to rule due to "serious and lasting illness".

President Bouteflika suffered a stroke in April 2013, which left him in a wheelchair. The leader has often flown to Switzerland for treatment and now appears very rarely in public.

Article 102 also allows for the extension of parliamentary terms of office in exceptional circumstances.

Hasni Abidi, a Swiss-based Algerian who heads a think tank, said: "This is a default solution following the failure of the negotiations of the departure of the president. It moves away from the democratic transition and approaches a framed succession."

Last month, Mr Bouteflika said he would run for a fifth term in office, triggering protests that brought hundreds of thousands of people to the streets.

After returning home from medical treatment in Switzerland, on 11 March he announced that he was no longer running for another term.

Instead, he postponed the elections that were scheduled for 18 April.

Mr Bouteflika's plan was seen as a way prolonging his current term and protests have continued since then.

Algeria's ruling coalition party has called for his resignation too, with the RND party's secretary general Ahmed Ouyahia saying it "recommends" Mr Bouteflika's resignation to facilitate the transition of power. </s> ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Thousands of Algerians are demonstrating in the major cities of the oil-rich North African country, demanding the resignation of ailing, 82-year-old President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

The number of protesters was much smaller than predicted by organizers, however, as rain appeared to dampen attendance on the fifth straight Friday since nationwide anti-Bouteflika protests began on Feb. 22.

Families joined professionals and students in the central squares of Algiers, the capital, holding signs reading “Get Out, Bouteflika” and “No Mandate Extension.”

Bouteflika last week indefinitely postponed April’s national election and overhauled the government. While he abandoned his bid for a fifth term in office, his simultaneous postponement of the election has critics worried that he intends to hold on to power indefinitely. He has been president since 1999.

Bouteflika, badly weakened by a 2013 stroke, has remained an enigma, with very few public appearances. The president returned earlier this month after two weeks in a Geneva hospital, but the exact state of his health is unclear.

Workers at Sonatrach, the national oil company whose executives are close to Bouteflika, held a symbolic sit-in Thursday in solidarity with the protests that span all sections of society.

New Prime Minister Nourredine Bedoui has promised to create a new cabinet within days to respond to the demands of Algeria’s demonstrators. Yet, Bedoui is still struggling to form a government, with many potential candidates seeking to keep their distance from the unpopular president. </s> Algerian protesters gather during a mass demonstration against ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in the capital Algiers on March 29, 2019 Protest-hit Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Sunday named a new government headed by recently appointed Noureddine Bedoui, a statement from the presidency said. State television reported that armed forces chief Ahmed Gaid Salah, who has called for Bouteflika to step down, remained as deputy defence minister.

Veteran politician Ramtane Lamamra, who was appointed deputy prime minister and foreign minister on March 11, was not named in the new administration.

Ailing Bouteflika, who has rarely being seen in public since a 2013 stroke, has come under mounting pressure to quit power since his decision to seek a fifth term sparked huge demonstrations.

Bouteflika said earlier this month he would pull out of the race and postponed April elections, in moves that angered Algerians who see it as a ploy to extend his two decades in power.

Faced with persistent public anger, a succession of veteran Bouteflika loyalists have deserted the president in recent days.

On Tuesday, chief of staff Gaid Salah, who was appointed in 2004, called for him to step down or be declared medically unfit.

The chief of staff cited Article 102 of the constitution, under which a president can be removed if found unfit to rule.

Long a faithful Bouteflika supporter, Gaid Salah said on television it was "imperative" to find a way out of the crisis "which responds to the legitimate demands" of the people in line with the constitution.

Despite the calls, huge crowds thronged the streets of Algeria's capital on Friday for a sixth successive week, saying the moves by his key allies to abandon Bouteflika were not enough. </s> Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has submitted his resignation, state news agency APS said on Tuesday, following weeks of mass protests.

The move came after Algeria's army chief of staff demanded immediate constitutional procedures to remove the ailing, 82-year-old leader from office.
Prime Minister of Algeria Ahmed Ouyahia resigns after Bouteflika's speech. He is replaced by Noureddine Bedoui.