Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in 2009. UPI/John Angelillo
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ALGIERS, Algeria, June 3 (UPI) -- Five weeks ago, on April 27, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika suffered what the government called a "mini-stroke and was whisked off to France for treatment.
Government officials say he's recovering, but many people now suspect something's going on. The Algerian and French media are saying the 76-year-old president's health is deteriorating and there are rumors he's dead.
These concerns have deepened in recent days after Algerian authorities closed down two Algerian dailies that quoted French medical sources as saying Bouteflika was in a coma in the Val de Grace Hospital in Paris where he was flown after his reported stroke.
Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal sought to quell the rumors and broke the official silence on Bouteflika May 20, saying the president was "never in danger," and was convalescing well in Paris.
"I would like to reassure our compatriots on the state of health of the president of the republic," Sellal announced. "His health is improving day by day."
But Algerians remain perplexed and suspicious of the leadership in advance of presidential elections scheduled for April 2014.
Abderrazzak Mukri, leader of the main Islamist party, demanded May 20 that Bouteflika be shown on television to prove he's alive, and if he didn't appear soon the government should use constitutional powers to remove him on health grounds.
The elections will be critical for the energy-rich state amid the political upheaval convulsing North Africa, the swelling threat from jihadists and a generational change in a security-heavy nation desperately in need of new blood at the top.
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5 weeks after 'mini-stroke,' Algeria's leader in limbo