Algeria: Ex-PM Sentenced to 5 Years Prison Time

Noureddine Bedoui (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Noureddine Bedoui (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT

Algeria: Ex-PM Sentenced to 5 Years Prison Time

Noureddine Bedoui (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Noureddine Bedoui (Asharq Al-Awsat)

An Algerian court on Wednesday handed five year prison sentences to former Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui and former health minister Abdelmalek Boudiaf along with fines of 1 million Algerian dinars, the state news agency said.

The sentences from the economic and financial Penal Court were related to a corruption case.

The indictment charges include "exploitation of governmental position for personal gain, in violation of laws and regulations, granting unjustified privileges to others, contrary to legislative and regulatory provisions currently in effect, and deliberate misappropriation of public funds."

Bedoui "strongly denied" the charges brought against him, and alluded to a broad campaign against corruption that targeted high-ranking civilian and military officials, resulting in the conviction of the majority of them with lengthy prison sentences.

For his part, Boudiaf appealed to the judge saying that he "hails from a family that participated in the liberation war" and that "their history prevents any member from engaging in actions that go against the interests of the country."



UN Official Denies Israeli Claim Yemen Airport was Military Target

The control tower of Sanaa international airport was damaged by the strikes on December 26  - AFP
The control tower of Sanaa international airport was damaged by the strikes on December 26 - AFP
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UN Official Denies Israeli Claim Yemen Airport was Military Target

The control tower of Sanaa international airport was damaged by the strikes on December 26  - AFP
The control tower of Sanaa international airport was damaged by the strikes on December 26 - AFP

The top UN official for humanitarian aid in Yemen, who narrowly dodged an aerial bombing raid by Israel on Sanaa's airport, denied Friday that the facility had any military purpose.

Israel said that it was targeting "military infrastructure" in Thursday's raids and that targets around the country were used by Houthis to "smuggle Iranian weapons" and bring in senior Iranian officials.

UN humanitarian coordinator Julien Harneis said the airport "is a civilian location that is used by the United Nations."

"It's used by the International Committee of the Red Cross, it is used for civilian flights -- that is its purpose," he told reporters by video link from Yemen, AFP reported.

"Parties to the conflict have an obligation to ensure that they are not striking civilian targets," he added. "The obligation is on them, not on us. We don't need to prove we're civilians."

Harneis described how he, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and 18 other UN staff, were caught up in the attack, which he said also took place as a packed airliner was touching down nearby.

One UN staffer was seriously wounded in the strikes, which destroyed the air traffic control facility, Harneis said. The rest of the team was bundled into armored vehicles for safety.

"There was one airstrike approximately 300 meters (985 feet) to the south of us and another airstrike approximately 300 meters to the north of us," he said.

"What was most frightening about that airstrike wasn't the effect on us -- it's that the airstrikes took place... as a civilian airliner from Yemenia Air, carrying hundreds of Yemenis, was about to land," he said.

"In fact, that airliner from Yemenia Air was landing, taxiing in, when the air traffic control was destroyed."

Although the plane "was able to land safely... it could have been far, far worse."

The Israeli attack, he said came with "zero indication of any potential airstrikes."

Harneis said the airport is "absolutely vital" to continued humanitarian aid for Yemen. "If that airport is disabled, it will paralyze humanitarian operations."

The United Nations has labeled Yemen "the largest humanitarian crisis in the world," with 24.1 million people in need of humanitarian aid and protection.

Public institutions that provide healthcare, water, sanitation and education have collapsed in the wake of years of war.