Health of Ailing Bouteflika Improving

Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal on Monday broke official silence on the health of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, saying he is convalescing in Paris after a mini-stroke and was "never in danger".

"I would like to reassure our compatriots on the state of health of the president of the republic... he was never in danger and his health is improving day by day," Sellal said in a statement carried by the APS news agency.

Bouteflika was flown to the Val de Grace hospital in Paris three weeks ago after his mini-stroke and his doctors have recommended "total rest for a full recovery," Sellal said.

The president is nevertheless "following up daily on the activities of the government".

His remarks come after mounting media speculation about the well-being of Bouteflika, 76, and a day after the Algerian prosecutor ordered legal action against the editor-in-chief of two local dailies which had reported the president was in a coma.

Sellal said that "false information carried by certain foreign media concerning the president of the republic" serves only to undermine Algerian security and development.

"Soon President Bouteflika's illness will be no more than an unpleasant memory," Sellal added.