From the EditorF

By Arezki Daoud:  2 April 2019: For now, all of the named individuals and companies listed here are innocent of any criminal wrongdoing. Investigations have just begun. However, suspected of corruption and illegal transfer of capital abroad, 12 businessmen are under investigation and have been banned from leaving Algeria.  They have been asked to surrender their passports at the Sid M’Hamed court.  The suspects have one major thing in common, they are all close ally to President Bouteflika, having been major backers financially and ideologically. Nothing wrong with that expect that under pressure, prosecutors are questioning how these men made their fortunes, and whether they have been engaged in capital flight as the political crisis appears to put them in a disadvantaged position. Furthermore, some senior figures are being singled out as having been members of the so-called shadowy “deep state.”  Among the is the President’s brother, Said Bouteflika, who is seen as the Grand Vizir who operated under the radar screen, and also the former head of the notorious DRS military intelligence service, Toufik Mediene. With the military command now rejecting every statement coming from the presidency, qualifying as illegal and originating from the non-constitutional players, the era of a deep purge is coming.

The 12 business personalities are identified as the three Kouninef brothers, who own KouGC Group and a number of subsidiaries active in various sectors. The Kouninefs have been accused of grabbing contracts tied to major state-owned companies without due process, public tenders, etc. Also among them is Ali Haddad, head of yet another major construction firm, ETHB Group, that allegedly took advantage of Haddad’s position to divert state contracts in illegal manners.  Haddad has been the head of the business leaders’ forum, from which he resigned just this week. He was arrested by border guards while trying to escape by road to Tunisia, after having been denied boarding on an airplane twice at Algiers Airport. Mahieddine Tahkout, the head of Cima Motors, a distributor of Hyundai vehicles in Algeria, and his two sons Bilel and Nacer are in the list. So is Mohamed Bairi of Ival Group, a distributor of Italian vehicle brands Iveco and FIAT and US machinery maker Newholland.  There are other names in the list.  The Prosecutor General of Algiers issued a statement confirming the opening of preliminary investigations “for corruption and illicit transfer of capital abroad.” The prosecutor’s office noted that such accusation requires “the application of provisions of Article 36 bis of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the taking of precautionary measures by ordering a ban on travel against certain persons.”

So far, prosecutors are saying, we’re just investigating and taking steps to prevent the potential outflow of money from the country.  But having been a close friend to the president’s brother, Ali Haddad is perhaps the most exposed of all the suspects, and is figurehead of the so-called oligarchs.  The Kouninef brothers are believed to have been the biggest backers from the perspective of providing cash and material support to the Bouteflika clan. But Haddad made a mistake by being front and center in the regime, a position that likely provided him with a great deal of benefits, but also a great deal of fixation from his opponents and the general public.  Haddad’s purchase two years ago of a hotel in Barcelona for $68 million has gathered a lot more attention than he wanted.  Spanish media this week report that the hotel is now up for sell for $62 million, and the news is making the rounds of the Algerian media, putting more pressure on prosecutors to deliver something concrete. The same goes for the Kouninef brothers, who have taken over the markets in several sectors, particularly water works, public works and telecommunications, and recently ventured into the business of securing oil and gas assets in Hassi Messaoud and elsewhere.  Their accusers say all of that happened thanks to their proximity to the President’s brother-advisor, Said Bouteflika.

Obviously these measures from the prosecutor’s office could not have happened if the head of the Algerian military, General Gaid Salah, did not attack the so-called “deep state,” which clearly includes Said Bouteflika and the oligarchs. There is an ongoing fight within the ruling regime, and the Bouteflika clan appears to be on the losing side of it.  A recent meeting held by former intelligence chief Mohamed Mediene (Toufik) of the notorious DRS unit, the very brother of the president Said Bouteflika, and former President Liamine Zeroual, with the two former asking Zeroual to pilot a post-Bouteflika transition, has been made public by none other than Zeroual himself, who called on those active within the “deep state” to stop doing it.  If these revelations end up being true, Algeria’s deep state remains active and the very presence of Said Bouteflika and General Toufik is evidence of the continued resistance against reform in a country that needs it badly. If the protesters end up winning, expect a major purge to take place, and courts will be busy for years to come dealing with affairs that have been dormant so far, including those of the Khalifa scandal, Sonatrach’s many scandals, the East-West expressway corruption cases, and so one.