Bouteflika aide claims Algeria election victory

ALGIERS (Reuters) - A senior aide to Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika claimed on Thursday the ailing leader had won election to secure a fourth term after 15 years in power. Official results have yet to be released after Thursday's election and may come on Friday. But many Algerians expect the 77-year-old leader to win even though he did not campaign himself and was rarely seen in public after a stroke last year. "Our candidate is the winner," Abdelaziz Belkhadem, Bouteflika's personal representative told Reuters without giving any details. "Without any doubt, Bouteflika got a landslide victory." (Reporting by Lamine Chikhi; Writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Chris Reese)