Leader reappears after health scare

ALGIERS: Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika appeared in a video on Sunday for the first time in a month since his abrupt cancellation of a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Algiers triggered speculation over his health. Since a stroke in 2013, Mr Bouteflika, 80, has appeared rarely in public, leaving questions over whether the leader in power for nearly two decades will finish his term. In a video broadcast on Sunday on state television, Mr Bouteflika was seen receiving his minister of Africa and Arab Affairs. It was his first such appearance since he postponed Ms Merkel’s visit to Algiers on Feb 20 citing acute bronchitis.