The army shot dead a civilian and wounded two others when their car failed to stop at a checkpoint in the Kabylie region of eastern Algeria early Wednesday, security sources said.

Soldiers opened fire after mistaking the car's four passengers, who were not from the area, for armed Islamists, who are active in the area.

Twelve candidates have registered for Algeria's April 17 presidential election, the APS national news agency said Wednesday, with 77-year-old incumbent Abdelaziz Bouteflika widely expected to win a fourth term.

Public radio earlier announced there were 10 candidates.

An Algerian court has postponed until March 11 the verdict in the trial of a cartoonist over an unpublished drawing of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the defendant's lawyer said Tuesday.

"The judge was absent. Another magistrate announced the postponement of the verdict," the cartoonist's lawyer Youcef Dilem told Agence France Presse after the hearing in the city of Oran.

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika told Algerian television Monday he has registered as a candidate for reelection, in his first public remarks since he suffered a mini stroke in April 2013.

"I came to officially submit my application in accordance with article 74 of the constitution and the electoral law," said the 77-year-old who is bidding for a fourth term in the April 17 election.

Two candidates, including a former prime minister, announced Monday they were pulling out of Algeria's presidential election, as dissent grows over the April vote.

Ahmed Benbitour, who served as premier from 1999 to 2000, also voiced support for a boycott of the election, in which veteran President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is seeking a fourth term.

Algeria's veteran President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who is running for a fourth term in elections in April, on Sunday called for voters to turn out in large numbers.

The 77-year-old president, who has ruled Algeria since 1999, announced a week ago he will seek re-election in the April 17 vote, despite worries over his health.

The Algerian army shot dead an Islamist in a mountainous region east of the capital Algiers, the defense ministry said Sunday.

It said "a terrorist was shot dead" on Saturday in an area between Tizi-Ouzou and Boumerdes, located 120 and 50 kilometers (75 and 30 miles) from Algiers, respectively.

Algerian police Saturday dispersed a demonstration in the capital against ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika seeking a fourth term in office in April elections.

Bouteflika, who has been in power since 1999 and turns 77 on Sunday, announced a week ago he would seek reelection in an April 17 vote, after speculation his frail health would stop him from running.

Former Algerian premier Mouloud Hamrouche Thursday called for a "peaceful" change of the regime, which he said was no longer capable of running the country, joining a growing chorus of dissent.

Hamrouche said April's presidential election, in which ailing leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika is expected to seek a fourth term after his candidacy was announced last week, was "pointless", whether or not his mandate is renewed.

Ailing 76-year-old Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika will seek reelection to a fourth term in April, his office said in comments carried by national television Saturday.

A screen caption said the presidency had confirmed that Bouteflika had informed the interior ministry of his intention to run in the April 17 poll and to collect the appropriate documents for signature.