Al Aribiya writes:

The polls opened in Algeria’s presidential election on Thursday with the incumbent Abdelaziz Bouteflika widely expected to win after 15 years in power even though he has spoken rarely in public since suffering a stroke last year.

More than 260,000 police have been deployed to protect the 50,000 polling booths set up across Africa’s largest country, where 23 million Algerians are eligible to vote in a contest between six candidates after polling opened at 8:00 am (0700 GMT).

This election will not be without controversy, Algeria is an important provider of gas to Europe and a key partner in America’s anti-islamic militancy campaign.

The results are expected at the earliest on Friday, polling stations close at 1800 GMT.