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Swiss Prosecutor Indicts Former Algerian Minister

FILE - Former Algerian Defense Minister and retired Gen. Khaled Nezzar smiles as he answers reporters at the Paris courthouse Monday, July 1, 2002. (AP Photo/Amel Pain, File)
FILE - Former Algerian Defense Minister and retired Gen. Khaled Nezzar smiles as he answers reporters at the Paris courthouse Monday, July 1, 2002. (AP Photo/Amel Pain, File)
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Swiss Prosecutor Indicts Former Algerian Minister

FILE - Former Algerian Defense Minister and retired Gen. Khaled Nezzar smiles as he answers reporters at the Paris courthouse Monday, July 1, 2002. (AP Photo/Amel Pain, File)
FILE - Former Algerian Defense Minister and retired Gen. Khaled Nezzar smiles as he answers reporters at the Paris courthouse Monday, July 1, 2002. (AP Photo/Amel Pain, File)

The office of Switzerland's Attorney General has filed an indictment against Algeria's former military chief for suspected crimes against humanity during the country's 1990s civil war, it said in a statement on Tuesday.

The indictment against former Defense Minister Khaled Nezzar, who is believed to live in Algeria but who could be tried in his absence, relates to alleged crimes committed between 1992 and 1994, Reuters quoted the statement as saying.

Swiss-based non-governmental organisation TRIAL International brought a criminal complaint against Nezzar under a law passed in Switzerland in 2011, which allows prosecution for serious crimes committed anywhere, under the principle of universal jurisdiction.

Reuters could not immediately contact Nezzar, or a Geneva-based lawyer who has previously represented him, for comment. Nezzar has previously denied accusations of wrongdoing during the war in comments to Algerian media.

Nezzar was arrested in Geneva in 2011, but he was released after two days of hearings and was believed to have returned to Algeria.

The new indictment means there will be a trial even if Nezzar, who is in his 80s, is not present, TRIAL International said.

The Attorney General's office said its investigations had been "complex" and at one stage temporarily abandoned the proceedings amid questions over its own jurisdiction to assess alleged war crimes.

Nezzar is set to be the highest-level military official ever to be tried using universal jurisdiction laws, according to TRIAL.

It would be one of only a handful of such cases to be heard in Switzerland and the second-ever hearing for crimes against humanity after a case against a Liberian warlord concluded this year.

Nezzar became Algeria's defense minister in 1990 and was involved when its military seized power the following year and overturned a parliamentary election that had been won by the Islamic Salvation Front.

The ensuing violence, dubbed the "dirty war", lasted until 1999 and some 200,000 people died, mainly civilians massacred by groups the military said were Islamist fighters.

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Four Bodies, Four Survivors Recovered from Egypt Red Sea Sinking, Says Governor

Sea Story had no technical problems, obtained all required permits prior to the trip, and was last checked for naval safety in March. (Red Sea Governorate on Facebook)
Sea Story had no technical problems, obtained all required permits prior to the trip, and was last checked for naval safety in March. (Red Sea Governorate on Facebook)
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Four Bodies, Four Survivors Recovered from Egypt Red Sea Sinking, Says Governor

Sea Story had no technical problems, obtained all required permits prior to the trip, and was last checked for naval safety in March. (Red Sea Governorate on Facebook)
Sea Story had no technical problems, obtained all required permits prior to the trip, and was last checked for naval safety in March. (Red Sea Governorate on Facebook)

Rescuers on Tuesday recovered four bodies and four survivors a day after a diving boat capsized off Egypt's eastern coast, Red Sea governor Amr Hanafi said, with eight people still missing.

Among the survivors were two Belgians, one Swiss national and one Egyptian, the governor said, bringing the total number of survivors from the vessel to 32. The four dead have not yet been identified and eight people remain missing.

"Rescue operations are ongoing today, supported by a military helicopter and a frigate in addition to multiple divers," Hanafi told AFP.

The vessel was carrying 31 tourists of multiple nationalities and a 13-member crew when it was hit by a large wave early on Monday, leading it to capsize near Marsa Alam in southeastern Egypt. The "Sea Story" had embarked on a multi-day diving trip on Sunday and had been due to dock on Friday at the town of Hurghada, 200 kilometres (124 miles) north.

The governor on Monday said the boat had sunk within 5-7 minutes of its impact with the wave, leaving some passengers -- among them European, Chinese and American tourists -- unable to escape their cabins in time.

- Survivors -

Rescuers from the military and a passing tourist boat had pulled 28 people from the waters on Monday. According to a source at a hospital in Marsa Alam, six tourists and three Egyptians were admitted with minor injuries and discharged on Monday.

The tourists included "two Germans, two Britons, one Spaniard and one Swiss national," the hospital administrator told AFP, requesting anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

According to the governor's office, the boat was carrying tourists from Belgium, Britain, China, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland and the United States.

Among the missing are two Polish and two Finnish tourists, according to both countries' foreign ministries.

Authorities have said the vessel was fully licensed and had passed all its inspection checks. A preliminary investigation showed no technical fault.

The Marsa Alam area experienced at least two similar boat accidents earlier this year but there were no fatalities. The Red Sea coast is a major tourist destination in Egypt, a country of 107 million that is in the grip of a serious economic crisis.

Nationally, the tourism sector employs two million people and generates more than 10 percent of its GDP.

Dozens of dive boats crisscross between Red Sea coral reefs and islands off Egypt's eastern coast every day, where safety regulations are robust but unevenly enforced.

Earlier this month, 30 people were rescued from a sinking dive boat near the Red Sea's Daedalus reef. In June, two dozen French tourists were evacuated safely before their boat sank in a similar accident.

Last year, three British tourists died when a fire broke out on their yacht.