Bouteflika assassination thwarted last year

The Algerian newspaper El Khabar has revealed that Algerian security forces foiled an attempt to assassinate Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika in 2011. The attempt was by the militant organisation al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb through a suicide attack during the president’s visit to one of the country's southern states. The newspaper said on Thursday morning that the plan was thwarted after security officials received information from their Malian counterparts regarding the al-Qaeda's plan to carry out suicide-bombings during the president’s visit to Tamanrasset, in Algeria's far south, near the border with Mali. The visit was in April 2011 for the purpose of launching a project to supply drinking water. The newspaper added that Algerian security did change the schedule 48 hours before the scheduled date, limiting it to only two hours as a precaution. El Khabar added that that the investigations concluded that the operation was prepared for by al-Qaeda from January 2011, when an al-Qaeda operative was assigned to prepare two car bombs, one of which was to target the president’s motorcade.