Abdelaziz Belkhadem appointed new Algerian PM
Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika appointed Abdelaziz Belkhadem as the country's prime minister, a statement from the presidency said.
Belkhadem, 61, a confidant of Bouteflika, replaces Ahmed Ouyahia, prime minister since May 2003, with whom he is known to have had disagreements.
No reason for the resignation of Ouyahia, made in a letter handed to Bouteflika during a meeting, was given.
Belkhadem told reporters that the identity of the new government team would be known "shortly".
He said he was "honoured by the confidence placed in him" by Bouteflika while conscious of the "heaviness of the task" awaiting him.
Previously a minister of state, and with a reputation as an "Islamist conservative," Abdelaziz Belkhadem was secretary-general of the National Liberation Front (FLN), formerly the only party and still the dominant political force in Algeria.
He was the personal representative of Bouteflika, whose state of health has attracted speculation in recent months, and foreign minister from August 2000 until May 1 of last year when the government was reshuffled.
After resigning, Ouyahia told reporters that he had thanked Bouteflika for the "confidence shown and the total support given during these three years."
He had previously been prime minister from December 1995 to December 1998 under the presidency of Liamine Zeroual.
He is secretary general of the National Democratic Rally (RND), one of the parties in the governing coalition, which also includes the FNL and the Islamist Peace Society Movement of a Peaceful Society (MSP).
In 1992 Algeria plunged into a disastrous civil war, when the military-backed government decided to cancel elections that an Islamic party had been poised to win.
The decision sparked almost a decade of appalling bloodletting, during which Islamic extremists carried out attacks on both the military and civilians, amid allegations of major human rights abuses on both sides.
An estimated 150,000 people died and even today violence continues, although at a much lower level.
After being elected president in 1999, Bouteflika was widely praised for helping to bring the conflict to an almost complete end.
He notably organized a referendum in September of that year to bring in a "civil reconciliation" plan, under which guerrillas who had not carried out atrocities could benefit from an amnesty.
Under his presidency, Algeria also began a return to the world stage, notably via pan-African diplomacy.
AFP
