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. </s> Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has resigned after weeks of mass protests, the state news agency APS reports.

Mr Bouteflika, who had been in power for 20 years, had already dropped plans to seek a fifth term as opposition to his rule grew. The powerful Algerian army had called for the 82-year-old to be declared incapable of carrying out his duties. He suffered a stroke six years ago and has rarely appeared in public since. -Via BBC </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 (Reuters) - Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigned on Tuesday, succumbing to a groundswell of public pressure after weeks of mass protests against his 20-year rule.

The ailing, 82-year-old leader announced he was standing down in a statement carried by state news agency APS, shortly after the army chief of staff demanded immediate action to remove him from office.

On Monday Bouteflika, in poor health and rarely seen in public since he suffered a stroke in 2013, had said he would quit before the end of his term on April 28.

But chief of staff Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaed Salah said that statement had been issued by “unconstitutional and unauthorized parties,” APS said.

“There is no more room to waste time ... We decided clearly ... to stand with the people so all their demands get fulfilled,” Salah said after a meeting with senior officers.

Hundreds of Algerians took to the streets of the capital after Bouteflika’s resignation, waving Algerian flags or driving in convoys through the city center, where on Feb. 22 mass protests broke out.

“Allahu Akbar (God is Great),” shouted a man. Someone else held up a banner saying: “Game over.”

Pressure had been building during the day with opposition groups demanding Bouteflika go immediately, while hundreds of students marched through the capital Algiers to demand the replacement of a political system widely seen as incapable of significant reform.

“Bouteflika’s decision (to resign by the end of his term) will change nothing,” Mustapha Bouchachi, a lawyer and protest leader, told Reuters earlier on Tuesday.

Bouteflika’s resignation will put Abdelkader Bensalah, chairman of the upper house of parliament, in charge as caretaker president for 90 days until elections are held.

Bouchachi had suggested Bouteflika’s nomination of a caretaker government was a move to perpetuate the current political system.

“What is important to us is that we do not accept the (new caretaker) government. Peaceful protests will continue.”

A veteran of Algeria’s war for independence, Bouteflika was first elected president in 1999 and established himself by ending a civil war with Islamist militants that killed an estimated 200,000 people.

But the country remains mired in corruption and, in a sign that the end for Bouteflika’s rule had been approaching, several oligarchs close to his camp were banned from traveling abroad in the past few days, part of a crackdown against his allies.

“The gang has made big money illegally taking advantage of its closeness with decision-makers,” Salah said, according to APS, referring to unnamed business people.

The protests have been driven by the country’s youth and lawyers demanding the removal of a ruling elite seen by many as out of touch with ordinary Algerians and presiding over an economy riven by cronyism. </s> Algeria’s constitutional council has dismissed reports that it has met to decide whether President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is fit for office, state radio said on Thursday, after the army called for his removal and allies deserted the ailing leader.

The report came two days after the Algerian army’s powerful chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Gaed Salah, called on the constitutional council to rule whether the ailing 82-year-old president is fit for office.

Such a ruling would have to be ratified by a two-thirds majority in the two houses of parliament.

The remarks by Lieutenant General Salah were the first instance of direct intervention in the crisis by the military. The Algerian army had previously praised the protesters and said at the same time that it would not tolerate chaos, but it had also refrained from directly calling for Bouteflika’s removal from office.

Mass protests began across the country after Bouteflika announced his bid for a fifth term in office earlier this month. Under increasing pressure, the Algerian president ultimately dropped his bid for another term, but protests have continued, demanding that he step down.

Earlier in the day, Hundreds of protesters again took to the streets of central Algiers to demand Bouteflika’s resignation and also to criticize the country’s entire political system.

“Thieves, you have destroyed the country,” they chanted.

Under Article 102 of the constitution, the chairman of parliament’s upper house, Abdelkader Bensalah, would serve as caretaker president for at least 45 days after Bouteflika’s departure.

Even if Bouteflika quits, there is no clear long-term successor.

Since suffering a stroke in 2013, the 82-year-old Bouteflika has been using a wheelchair and has rarely been seen in public.

This article has been adapted from its original source </s> Algeria's veteran President Abdelaziz Bouteflika informed the Constitutional Council that he is resigning in a move that is to take effect on Tuesday, state television said, after the military called for his impeachment.

Bouteflika "officially advised the Constitutional Council of the end of his term of office as President of the Republic" from Tuesday, said a news ticker on the television.

The report came hours after armed forces chief Ahmed Gaid Salah demanded the immediate launch of impeachment proceedings against Bouteflika as the military dismissed an announcement he would resign before his mandate expires at the end of the month.

In power for two decades, 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 82-year-old, who uses a wheelchair, said last month he would pull out of the bid for another term, and on Monday his office said he would resign before his mandate expires on April 28.

The moves failed to quell public ire, with hundreds of students taking to the streets again earlier on Tuesday. </s> Algeria’s army chief renewed a call for President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to be declared unfit for office and told opponents not to seek to undermine the military, after weeks of protests demanding an end to the ailing leader’s 20-year rule. Bouteflika, 82, who has rarely been seen in public in recent years, has faced mass demonstrations for more than a month. His announcement that he would not seek a fifth term but that he would not quit immediately has failed to assuage protesters. To break the stalemate, Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaed Salah made a proposal on Tuesday for the constitutional council declare Bouteflika unfit for office, a move provided for under article 102 of the charter. </s> Abdelaziz Bouteflika has rarely been seen since suffering a stroke in 2013 SIDALI DJARBOUB/AP

Algeria’s ailing octogenarian president appears close to losing power after the country’s top-ranking soldier said that he should be declared unfit for office.

The announcement was met by a concert of car horns in the capital, Algiers, as people celebrated what they saw as the imminent end of Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s 20-year presidency.

The north African country, which is facing an economic crisis despite its oil and gas reserves, has witnessed unprecedented demonstrations against Mr Bouteflika, 82, with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets to call for his departure.

The movement won what many observers believed to be the backing of the army when Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaid Salah, the chief of staff, called for the use of a constitutional procedure designed to unseat presidents… </s> Thousands of protesters gathered in central Algiers on Friday, piling pressure on President Abdel Aziz Bouteflika to resign days after the country's powerful military called for his removal.

The army chief of staff, Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaed Salah, on Tuesday asked the constitutional council to rule whether the ailing 82-year-old president is fit for office.

Bouteflika, facing the biggest crisis of his 20-year-old rule, has failed to placate Algerians by reversing a decision to seek a fifth term.

"Streets pressure will continue until the system goes," said student Mohamed Djemai, 25.

Protesters, who have been staging demonstrations since February 22, say they want to overthrow an entire political system and replace it with a new generation of leaders capable of modernising the oil-dependent state and giving hope to a population impatient for a better life.

Under Article 102, the Constitutional Council could determine the president is too ill to fully exercise his functions, and ask the parliament to declare him unfit. Bouteflika has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013.

If a two-thirds majority of the parliament's lower and upper house ratify the council's decision, the chairman of the upper house, Abdelkader Bensalah, would serve as caretaker president for at least 45 days.

The army chief is among the top power brokers in Algeria and his announcement could pave the way for Bouteflika's removal.

The move came days after Hocine Khaldoun, spokesman for the ruling National Liberation Front (FLN), said he will ask the party to withdraw its support for Bouteflika's proposal to hold a national conference aimed at getting the country out of its current political deadlock.

On Tuesday, thousands of people returned to the streets of Algiers calling on Bouteflika to resign, keeping up popular pressure.

Following Salah's announcement, some demonstrators expressed scepticism about the army chief's plan.

Assyl Moulessehoul, a 24-year-old language student in Tlemcen, said on Tuesday it appeared to be a "soft military coup."

"The army should not interfere in politics and should stay away from the ongoing political crisis. What we want is the regime to move from a military to a civilian rule," he had told Al Jazeera.
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigns amid pressure from the public and the military, having ruled the country since 1999.