ABOUT ABDELAZIZ BOUTEFLIKA
Algerian president who presided over the end of the country's bloody civil war and quelled civil unrest. He first took office in 1999 and in 2012 he became the longest-serving President of Algeria. He continued serving as President until April of 2019.
He was in the government of a previous president but was forced out after a political power shift.
One of his first acts as president was to make peace with the anti-government guerrilla fighters, offering them amnesty. At the age of 84, he passed away from cardiac arrest.
He was born into a large family: four brothers and three half-sisters. He married Amal Triki in 1990; but they later divorced.
His country has produced many notable people, including the iconic fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent .
