Algiers, Aug 6, 2019 – An Algerian court has issued an arrest warrant against a former defence minister and army chief, along with his son, for alleged “conspiracy”, state television reported Tuesday. The warrant against Khaled Nezzar follows a series of legal moves against high-profile figures in the regime of ousted president Abdelaziz Bouteflika. The court in Blida, southwest of Algiers, said Nezzar was suspected of “conspiracy and breach of public order”, according to a news ticker on national TV.
The retired general has for weeks been on the run in Spain, where he has been joined by his son, according to Algerian media reports. Nezzar recently claimed that as protests mounted against Bouteflika in April, the president’s powerful brother had sought his advice on how to crush the protest movement. The former minister told the Algeria Patriotique news website — run by his son Lotfi Nezzar — that Said Bouteflika had mulled declaring a state of emergency and firing army chief Ahmed Gaid Salah. He repeated those accusations in May when he appeared as a witness against Said Bouteflika, who was arrested along with two former intelligence chiefs on charges including “conspiring” against the state and “undermining the authority of the army”.
Gaid Salah, a longtime ally of president Bouteflika, has become Algeria’s de facto strongman since the 82-year-old president left office on April 2 following weeks of protests against his bid to seek a fifth term. Protesters have welcome the arrests of high-profile figures from Bouteflika’s regime. But many fear they are little more than a high-level purge and a power struggle between regime clans, rather than a genuine effort to reform the state.
Nezzar was at the head of the army in 1992 when it cancelled the electoral process, denying Islamist groups a victory at the polls and pitching the country into a devastating, decade-long civil war. A Swiss court in mid-2018 cleared the way for Nezzar to face war crimes charges after he was arrested in Switzerland. In a complaint filed by rights group TRIAL International, a group of alleged victims accused him of torture and arbitrary arrests.
By AFP
Profile
Major-General Khaled Nezzar (: خالد نزّار; 25 December 1937 – 29 December 2023) was an Algerian general and a member of the of Algeria. He was born in the douar of Thlet, in in the region. His father, Rahal Nezzar, was a former non-commissioned officer in the French army who had turned to farming after . His mother died in 1941.
Military career
[]After studying in the local native school (école indigène), Nezzar was transferred to a school for troops' children at , and then joined the French army, studying at the Strasbourg military school in Algiers where non-commissioned officers were trained. He was one of a number of Algerian professional soldiers who gained their initial training and experience serving with the French forces before defecting to the nationalist forces during the final years of the .
After independence in 1962, Nezzar remained in the new Algerian army, and started rising through the ranks. He went to in 1964 to receive military training at the . Upon his return in 1965, he was named Director of Materiel in the Ministry of National Defense. Soon after 's coup, he was put in charge of the Saharan 2nd Motorized Infantry, based around . In 1968, he was sent to Egypt to help guard the Egypt–Israel line of control, which at the time (just after the ) witnessed regular artillery bombardments and aerial bombings. After returning from Egypt, he was put in charge of training Algeria's first paratroopers, with Soviet help, at .
In 1975, he went through further training at the in ; at this point, he was a Lieutenant-Colonel. He returned in his second year without finishing his studies, having been summoned back to command troops in at the height of the Moroccan-Algerian conflict over the issue. He spent the next seven years in the - area.
After took power, Nezzar was sent away from Tindouf to the east, a decision which he resented. He rose rapidly through the ranks, and, by 1988, he was a ground forces commander at Ain Naadja in , where he played a significant role in suppressing the "" riots.
Political career
[]Nezzar became Minister of Defense in July 1990. In his memoirs, he recounts his hostility during this period to the interim prime minister and president , whom he accuses of effectively "conniving" with the for the sake of increasing their power.
After the 's electoral victory in 1991, he, along with , was among the leading generals who decided to depose then-President and annul the elections, marking the beginning of the . He became a member of the new provisional governing body, the (HCS), when it was established in January 1991. He survived an assassination attempt in February 1993 in (Algiers), and gave up his position five months later, when the HCS's mandate terminated. In 1999, he (unusual for an Algerian general) published his memoirs, written in French and translated into Arabic.
Personal life
[]In October 2001, Khaled Nezzar's son violently attacked a reporter, Sid Ahmed Semiane, for having criticized his father. He had already threatened him several times. Nezzar apologized for his son's actions three days later; his son was eventually found guilty in court, and paid a fine of 12 euros.
In 2002, Nezzar sued the dissident officer in for . Souaidia had accused him of "being responsible for the assassination of thousands of people", blaming him and other generals for starting the war and committing massacres attributed to the . As the trial began, nine Algerians in Paris filed complaints against Nezzar for torture and inhumane treatment; he left Paris before these could be evaluated, saying he did not want to risk a diplomatic incident. The court found Souaidia innocent.
Death
[]Nezzar died in Algiers on 29 December 2023, at the age of 86.
- Nezzar, Khaled. 1999. Mémoires du Général Khaled Nezzar, Chihab Editions. 9961-63-386-5.
