Former Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has died at 84, state television said. Bouteflika fought for independence from France in the 1950s-'60s and was ousted amid pro-democracy protests in 2019 after 20 years in power.
The report on ENTV, citing a statement from the office of current President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, did not provide the cause of death or information about funeral arrangements.
Earlier in his life, Bouteflika fought for independence from colonial ruler France, successfully negotiated with the terrorist known as Carlos the Jackal to free oil ministers taken hostage in a 1975 attack on OPEC headquarters, and helped reconcile Algerian citizens with each other after a decade of civil war between radical Muslim militants and Algeria’s security forces.He became foreign minister as just age 25, and stood up to the likes of Henry Kissinger in the height of the Cold War.
Born on March 2, 1937 in the town of Oujda near the Morocco border, Bouteflika was among Algeria’s most enduring politicians. In Algeria’s bloody independence war, he commanded the southern Mali front and slipped into France clandestinely in 1961 to contact jailed liberation leaders. Yet Bouteflika stood firmly with the United States in the fight against terrorism after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, particularly on intelligence-sharing and military cooperation.
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