The head of Algeria's ruling party, a vocal supporter of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika seeking a fourth term in April elections, called on the powerful intelligence chief to resign in an interview published Monday.

General Mohamed "Tewfik" Mediene, the long-time leader of the DRS military intelligence agency, is considered a towering force in Algeria, whose secretive military elite has dominated the country's political scene since independence.

Weeks of violence between two rival communities have swept Algeria's desert city of Ghardaia, enflamed by the destruction of a historic Berber shrine, with analysts warning of sectarian conflict engulfing the fragile region.

For more than a month, the city of 90,000 inhabitants has witnessed clashes between the Chaamba community of Arab origin and the majority Mozabites, indigenous Berbers belonging to the Ibadi Muslim sect.

Algeria summoned Morocco's ambassador Wednesday in a tit-for-tat move over allegations it had expelled dozens of Syrian refugees that added a new twist to frequent rows between the North African neighbors.

The ambassador was informed of "the Algerian government's strong rejection of unfounded claims ... of the supposed expulsion of Syrian nationals to Moroccan territory," a foreign ministry spokesman said.

The Moroccan foreign ministry summoned Algeria's ambassador Tuesday to protest its alleged expulsion of Syrian refugees across their common border, in the latest spat between the feuding neighbors.

Algeria has already rejected the accusations, saying on Monday that its border guards had merely refused to allow Syrian nationals deported by Morocco onto its territory.

Algeria's main Islamist party, the Movement for the Society of Peace (MSP), on Saturday announced a boycott of the presidential election due to be held April 17.

Party chief Abderrazak Mokri made the announcement to journalists following two days of debate within the MSP.

Weeks of heightened tensions between rival communities in the flashpoint oasis town of Ghardaia in southern Algeria have erupted into violence, leaving one person dead and others hurt, officials said Monday.

Schools and shops were shut after a group of youths went on the rampage on Sunday, attacking five different neighborhoods, and after a 39-year-old man was stabbed in the chest at his home.

Algerian former premier Ali Benflis Sunday said he would stand in the country's presidential elections, after a 10-year absence from politics after he lost the 2004 poll to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

"With honor, determination, confidence and a lot of humility, I took the decision to be a candidate for the presidency of the republic," Benflis, 71, told the press and his supporters.

Algeria's ageing leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Friday called a presidential election for April 17, a day after returning from medical treatment in France, without indicating if he himself would stand.

"Bouteflika today proceeded with the signing of the presidential decree convening the electoral body for Thursday, April 17, 2014, for the election of the presidency of the republic," a statement from the president's office said.

Veteran Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika flew home Thursday after a Paris medical check-up that had raised questions about his ability to run for a fourth term in April.

Bouteflika, 76, has ruled the north African nation continuously since 1999 but a mini-stroke that confined him to a Paris hospital for three months last year has created concerns for the political future of a country seen as pivotal to the fight against al-Qaida across the Sahara.

Algeria's ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has been flown to Paris for a "routine check-up" at the same military hospital where he was treated last year for a mini-stroke, his office said Tuesday.

"Bouteflika has been at the Val-de-Grace hospital since Monday for a routine medical check-up," his office said in a statement quoted by Algerian media, adding that his general condition was improving "surely" and "steadily."