Algeria’s army chief said the public had expressed “noble aims” during protests against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and the ruling FLN party withdrew its support for him, in the heaviest blows for the veteran leader since the unrest began.

Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaed Salah said that a month of demonstrations had been “marked by the deeds of noble aims and pure intentions, through which the Algerian people has clearly expressed its values ​​and principles of sincere and dedicated work to Allah and the motherland”.

The comments, made on Tuesday during a tour of a military district and carried by Algerian media yesterday, were the clearest signal yet that the army was distancing itself from the ailing Bouteflika, in power for 20 years.

The ruling National Liberation Front party, known by its French acronym FLN, also sided with the protesters after a meeting of its top officials.  “FLN fully supports the popular protest movement,” the APS state news agency quoted FLN leader Moad Bouchared as saying.

The party also called for negotiations to ensure stability in Algeria, a major oil and gas producer.

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“There is a need to work devoutly and advocate unified dialogue,” Bouchared added, according to APS.

Bouteflika, 82, bowed to the protesters last week by reversing plans to stand for a fifth term. But he stopped short of stepping down and said he would stay in office until a new constitution is adopted, effectively extending his present term.

His moves have done nothing to placate protesters pushing for a new generation to take over from Bouteflika and other veterans of the 1954-1962 independence war against France who have dominated the country.

Leaders who have emerged from the protest movement have not yet built up enough momentum to force him to quit or make more concessions. But the position of the army chief of staff and the FLN could make his position untenable.