Algeria's Bouteflika being treated at Swiss hospital

Algeria’s ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika remains at a Swiss hospital as protests grow in his country against his bid for a fifth term, the Tribune de Geneve newspaper reported Wednesday.

Citing what it described as multiple and well-informed sources, the TdG reported that Bouteflika has been at the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) since Sunday.

HUG is a public teaching hospital but has a private wing that could accommodate VIPs seeking privacy, according to the hospital’s website.

READ: Bouteflika, a ghost-candidate in a presidential race

A HUG spokesman declined to comment on the report.

Bouteflika, who uses a wheelchair and has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013, announced on February 10 that he would seek re-election in the April 18 vote.

The 81-year-old has repeatedly received medical care in Switzerland since the 1980s.

His office had previously announced that the president was scheduled to travel to Switzerland for “routine medical checks” ahead of the election.

Algerians protest president’s bid for 5th term – Cartoon [Mohammad Sabaaneh/Middle East Monitor]