Algeria says to hold presidential election on April 18

FILE PHOTO - Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is pictured with his nephew after casting his vote during the local elections at a polling station in Algiers, Algeria November 23, 2017. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algeria will hold a presidential election on April 18, the presidency said on Friday in a statement, but did not say whether veteran leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika would seek a fifth term in office.

Bouteflika, 81, has been in office since 1999 and has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013 which bound him to a wheelchair.