General Ahmed Gaed Salah, Algeria’s army chief of staff called on Tuesday for a constitutional move that would see President Abdel Aziz Bouteflika declared unfit for office.
It was a rare direct intervention by the military in the country’s political affairs after weeks of protests.
Hundreds of thousands have hit the streets to demand an end to the 20-year rule of the ailing 82-year-old president, part of an ageing and secretive elite entrenched in power since independence from France in 1962. While the military praised the demonstrators, it warned that chaos would not be tolerated.
Salah, addressing army officers in a speech broadcast on two private Algerian TV stations, called for a unified stand to resolve the crisis in the sprawling North African state, a major oil and gas exporter.
Salah said the solution would be based on Article 102 of the constitution and…
Source: News Agency of Nigeria
