Abdelaziz Bouteflika, President of Algeria

1937 March 2: Born in Oujda (today Morocco) to a father of origin in Tlemcen.
1956: Bouteflika finishes his secondary education, and joins the ALN (Armée de libération nationale), which is part of FLN.
1957: Starts serving as officer, working specifically out of Oujda, not participating in fights.
1960: Is stationed in the southern regions of Algeria.
1961: Participates in a secret Algerian delegation to Aulnoy, France, in order to negotiate with the French authorities.
1962: With the birth of Muslim independent Algeria, Bouteflika is appointed Minister of Youth, Sport and Tourism.
1963: Bouteflika is appointed Foreign Minister, at the age of 26.
— Bouteflika also becomes member of the legislative assembly.
1964: He is elected for the congress of the FLN.
1979: After serving as foreign minister under two different presidents, Ahmed Ben Bella and Houari Boumedienne, Bouteflika finally has to resign from his post.
1981: Bouteflika goes into exile, after being charged with corruption. The case is later dropped.
1987 January: Bouteflika returns to Algeria.
1988 October: Bouteflika signs a protest against the ruthless acts by government troops against young protesters.
1989: He participates in the FLN congress, and is elected to the central committee.
1998 December: Declares that he will run for president with the next elections.
1999 April 15: Elected president with 73.8% of the votes, after all the other candidates withdrew in protest. French figures (Le Monde) gave Bouteflika only 28% in an election with 23% turn-out. The elections are met with international criticism and internal protest in the days following. Out of 47 candidates, 7 were permitted to run for election. 6 of them would withdraw so close to the election, that the ballots could not be changed. They all, therefore, received votes.
— August 1: Bouteflika declares that he will put an agreement between the government and FIS up for a referendum on September 16.
— December: Establishes a new government, with Ahmed Benbitour as prime minister. The government had members from the 7 political parties that had supported Bouteflika in the presidential election.
2001: Following the arrest and killing of a high school student in Kabylia, widespread riots break out in Kabylia. The protests, Black Spring, brings forth several large demonstrations in Algiers, the largest with 500,000 participants.
2004 April 8: Bouteflika is reelected in presidential elections, winning 83.5% of the votes. The election is called fair by international observers, but is boycotted by the Kabyles.
— Introduces a National Reconciliation Plan, offering amnesty to many combatants in the Algerian Civil War.
— Becomes president of the Arab League, a term that would last one year.
2005 November 26: Hospitalized for 3 weeks.
2006 May 25: Appoints Abdelaziz Belkhadem new prime minister. He also announced a change in the constitution to allow the president to remain in office indefinitely.