FILE PHOTO: Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is pictured with his nephew after casting his vote during the local elections at a polling station in Algiers, Algeria November 23, 2017. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika will travel to Switzerland on Sunday for routine medical checks, his office said in a statement without elaborating.

Bouteflika, 81, has announced that he will run for a fifth term in office in the presidential election set for April 18, and observers expect him to win.