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Algeria's Bouteflika Resigns, Bowing to Weeks of Protest

  • Announcement comes after army chief threatened impeachment
  • OPEC member’s been roiled by protest with no end in sight
Abdelaziz Bouteflika
Abdelaziz Bouteflika

Photographer: Ryad Kramdi/AFP via Getty Images

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Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has resigned, bowing to weeks of mass protests and growing pressure from the country’s powerful military to end his 20-year rule.

Bouteflika’s departure thrusts the OPEC member into uncharted territory. It’s not clear if his resignation will be enough to assuage demonstrators whose demands have expanded over six weeks to encompass the removal of the entire ruling elite. Spontaneous celebrations erupted in the capital Algiers, with drivers beeping car horns and crowds chanting: “This is a start, but there’s more to come.”