Furor Over Monastery Visits Exposes Algeria’s Succession Anxiety
- Speculation intense over jockeying to follow ailing president
- Algeria facing instability as oil plunge, jihadism test region
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With a white shawl draped across his shoulders, former oil minister Chakib Khelil wandered through one of Algeria’s Sufi monasteries smiling and quietly chatting with clerics. Yet when photos of last month’s low-key visit emerged, they created a stir.
The shrines are a favorite stop for Algerian politicians preparing for high office, and the images from Djelfa province fueled already fevered speculation that President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s friend since childhood had ended a three-year exile in the U.S. to eventually succeed him as leader.