ALGIERS, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is expected to return to Algeria on Sunday, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters, as he faces mass protests that pose the biggest threat to his 20-year-old rule.
The Algerian government plane that took Bouteflika to Geneva for medical treatment last month left Algerian airspace and headed north on Sunday, flight radar applications showed, before landing at Geneva's Cointrin airport.
The ailing Bouteflika, 82, has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013. Tens of thousands of people have protested over the past three weeks over his decision to stand in April's election.
Hundreds of students took to the streets chanting "Bouteflika, there will be no fifth term". Many shops in Algiers are closed.
Several public figures, including members of his ruling FLN party and lawmakers have resigned to join the rallies against a political system dominated by veterans of the 1954-1962 war of independence against France.
Algerians desperate for jobs and angry at unemployment, corruption and an elderly elite show no signs of backing down despite Bouteflika's offer to limit his term after the election.
Algerians packed central Algiers to capacity on Friday in the biggest protests in the capital in 28 years.
Security forces detained 195 people, state television said, citing offences such as looting.
