German chancellor Angela Merkel’s Algeria visit cancelled over President Bouteflika’s illness
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to Algeria has been cancelled due to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s sickness.
Merkel’s two-day visit was part of an effort to stem migration from North Africa, but had to be cancelled because of Bouteflika’s severe case of bronchitis.
German and Algerian authorities agreed to reschedule the visit due to Bouteflika’s “temporary unavailability,” the APS state news agency reported, citing a presidential statement. Dates for a rescheduled visit are yet to be announced.
The surprise cancellation is said to have come shortly before Merkel’s plane was set to take off from Berlin, and as German flags were lined at the Algiers airport in preparation for the German chancellor’s arrival.
Angela Merkel is keen on building closer relations with North African countries including Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco in order to speed up deportations of asylum-seekers whose applications have been rejected in Germany.
The German chancellor had also been scheduled to meet with business leaders and the prime minister as well as tour a girls’ school where the German language is taught during her visit on Monday and Tuesday.
