Algeria prepared on Sunday to bury Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the North African country’s longest-serving president, at a cemetery for its independence heroes but without the ceremony accorded to leaders who died before him. Bouteflika passed away on Friday aged 84, having lived as a recluse since he was forced from power more than two years ago. The veteran strongman quit office in April 2019 after the military abandoned him following weeks of street protests sparked by his bid to run for a fifth presidential term. Without fanfare, in contrast with previous presidential deaths, state television announced that Bouteflika would be laid to rest at El-Alia cemetery, east of Algiers, where his predecessors and other independence fighters are buried.