APRNEWS - Algeria needs to focus on avoiding economic instability during its political transition after the resignation of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, a senior official at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said.

Jihad Azour, IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia director, also told Reuters the OPEC member should carry out reforms to help cut deficit and reduce reliance on oil and gas.

APRNEWS - Sudan’s Defence Minister Awad Ibn Aouf said on Friday that he is stepping down as head of the country’s transitional military council, a day after former president Omar al-Bashir was overthrown in a coup.

Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman Burhan will be the new head of the transitional military council, Ibn Aouf said in a speech broadcast on state television on Friday.

APRNEWS - Thousands of Algerians gathered for new anti-government protests in the capital on Friday despite moves by a succession of veteran loyalists to abandon ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

Demonstrations were expected to take place across the North African country, where protests broke out more than a month ago when Bouteflika announced his bid for a fifth term.

APRNEWS - Algeria’s biggest union and an influential party on Wednesday backed an army call for President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to quit in a managed exit plan that was quickly rejected by protesters demanding the overthrow of the entire political elite.

APRNEWS - Pressure mounted on Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika Wednesday as the coalition ally of his ruling party called for him to resign, a day after the army asked for the ailing leader to be declared unfit for office.

APRNEWS - Thirteen independent Algerian unions have refused to back the newly-appointed prime minister’s efforts to form a government he hopes will placate protesters who are pressuring President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and his inner circle to step down.

APRNEWS - French president Emmanuel Macron, who is currently on an East African tour of Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya, on Tuesday called for a ‘reasonable duration’ to the transition period in Algeria.

Macron, who on started his tour in Djibouti, said president Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s decision to abandon his quest for a fifth term in power opened a new chapter in Algeria’s history.

APRNEWS - Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s announcement on Monday that he would not seek a fifth term in office left many shocked. Yet there was also concern that his decision to postpone the presidential election may be a ploy to cling to power.

APRNEWS - Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika returned home on Sunday after receving medical treatment in a Swiss hospital, the Algerian presidency has confirmed, amid protests against the ailing president's bid for a fifth term in office.

Bouteflika has landed at a military airport south of the capital and quickly departed in a convoy after spending two weeks in a Swiss hospital.