Algeria's Bouteflika returns from Paris after check-up

BBC NEWS

Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, 76, has returned home after a medical check-up at a hospital in Paris, state media reports.

He flew back earlier than scheduled because of an "overall improvement" in his health, the APS news agency reports.

Mr Bouteflika, who suffered a mini-stroke last year, was admitted to the French Val-de-Grace hospital on Monday.

Presidential elections are due to be held in Algeria in April.

The ruling National Liberation Front (FLN) has nominated him to run for a fourth term, but he has not yet accepted the nomination.

Last year, Mr Bouteflika received medical treatment in France for three months after suffering a mini-stroke.

His critics say he leads an authoritarian regime, and should hand power to a younger generation.

He became president in 1999 and is regarded as being among the last of a generation of leaders who fought in the 1954-1962 war of independence from France.

A leaked US diplomatic cable in 2007 suggested he might be suffering from terminal stomach cancer and in the last few years he has rarely appeared in public or travelled outside the capital.