Bouteflika sworn in as Algeria president for 4th term

A supporter of Abdelaziz Bouteflika kisses his picture as he celebrates in Algiers on April 18, 2014 after Bouteflika won a fourth term with 81,53 percent of the votes. By Patrick Baz (AFP)

Algiers (AFP) - Abdelaziz Bouteflika was sworn in as Algeria's president for a fourth term Monday, in a televised ceremony after his re-election in a campaign he was too sick to participate in.

Sitting in a wheelchair, Bouteflika placed his right hand on the Koran as he repeated in a frail voice the oath read out by a judge, before saying his election was a "victory for the state".

Bouteflika, who was also in a wheelchair when he cast his own vote on election day, has hardly been seen in public since a mini-stroke which confined him to hospital in Paris for three months last year.