Algiers, March 29 (QNA) - The Algerian presidency announced the death of former President Liamine Zeroual at the age of 85 after a battle with illness.

In a statement carried by the Algerian News Agency, the presidency said that Zeroual passed away yesterday evening at the Mohamed Seghir Nekkache Military Hospital in the capital, Algiers, praising his national career and his service to the country.

Zeroual, who was born in 1941 in the city of Batna in eastern Algeria, is considered one of the country’s most prominent military and political figures. He joined the National Liberation Army and participated in the war of independence between 1957 and 1962. After independence, he held several leadership positions in the Algerian army.

He occupied key military roles, including commanding the military school in Batna and later the military academy in Cherchell, before eventually being appointed commander of the land forces within the army’s general staff.

On the political front, he was appointed head of state on Jan. 31, 1994, by the High Council of State, before being elected President of Algeria on Nov. 16, 1995.

In September 1998, Zeroual announced that he would shorten his presidential term and called for early elections. His tenure ended on Apr. 27, 1999, when he was succeeded by the late President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. (QNA)