Algeria Finance Minister, Ex-Police Chief Probed over Corruption

Protesters in Algiers, Algeria. (Reuters)
Protesters in Algiers, Algeria. (Reuters)
TT

Algeria Finance Minister, Ex-Police Chief Probed over Corruption

Protesters in Algiers, Algeria. (Reuters)
Protesters in Algiers, Algeria. (Reuters)

Algeria’s Finance Minister Mohamed Loukal appeared in Algiers as part of an investigation into suspected misuse of public funds, state television reported.

Former police chief Abdelghani Hamel also appeared before another court as part of an investigation into “illegal activities, influence peddling, misappropriation of land and abuse of office”.

Hamel, who was sacked last year by former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika for undisclosed reasons, and his son appeared in Tipaza, west of the capital.

Loukal and Hamel left court after being questioned by judges, the private television channel Ennahar reported, without providing details. None of the men or the lawyers defending them made any immediate comment.

It is unclear what happened in the courts. Under the Algerian legal system, judges can look into ongoing investigations and decide whether to put people in custody or release them until inquiries are complete.

Loukal and Hamel join a list of powerful figures to face judicial investigations since mass protests forced the resignation of Bouteflika this month.

High-profile figures targeted over the past week include the North African country's richest man, Issad Rebrab, who was detained on allegations of false customs declarations.

The head of the vast state oil firm Sonatrach, Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour, has been fired and replaced on the orders of interim president Abdelkader Bensalah.

Four brothers from the influential Kouninef family, close to Bouteflika's brother Said, have been arrested over alleged non-compliance with state contracts, according to official media.

Protesters took to the streets in February, calling for the ousting of Bouteflika and the dismantling of the political elite that surrounded his 20-year rule.

Bouteflika resigned on April 2 under pressure from the army, but the protests have continued with calls for a handover to a new, civilian-led government.

Abdelkader Bensalah, head of the upper house of parliament, became interim president after Bouteflika’s departure. Presidential elections are scheduled for July 4.



Lebanon’s Jumblatt Visits Syria, Hoping for a Post-Assad Reset in Troubled Relations

Walid Jumblatt (C), the Druze former leader of Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), and his son and current party head Taymur Jumblatt (C-L) meet with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) and interim prime minister Mohammad al-Bashir (L) during a visit to Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
Walid Jumblatt (C), the Druze former leader of Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), and his son and current party head Taymur Jumblatt (C-L) meet with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) and interim prime minister Mohammad al-Bashir (L) during a visit to Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
TT

Lebanon’s Jumblatt Visits Syria, Hoping for a Post-Assad Reset in Troubled Relations

Walid Jumblatt (C), the Druze former leader of Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), and his son and current party head Taymur Jumblatt (C-L) meet with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) and interim prime minister Mohammad al-Bashir (L) during a visit to Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
Walid Jumblatt (C), the Druze former leader of Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), and his son and current party head Taymur Jumblatt (C-L) meet with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) and interim prime minister Mohammad al-Bashir (L) during a visit to Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)

Former head of Lebanon’s Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), Druze leader Walid Jumblatt held talks on Sunday with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose group led the overthrow of Syria's President Bashar Assad, with both expressing hope for a new era in relations between their countries.

Jumblatt was a longtime critic of Syria's involvement in Lebanon and blamed Assad's father, former President Hafez Assad, for the assassination of his own father decades ago. He is the most prominent Lebanese politician to visit Syria since the Assad family's 54-year rule came to an end.

“We salute the Syrian people for their great victories and we salute you for your battle that you waged to get rid of oppression and tyranny that lasted over 50 years,” said Jumblatt.

He expressed hope that Lebanese-Syrian relations “will return to normal.”

Jumblatt's father, Kamal, was killed in 1977 in an ambush near a Syrian roadblock during Syria's military intervention in Lebanon's civil war. The younger Jumblatt was a critic of the Assads, though he briefly allied with them at one point to gain influence in Lebanon's ever-shifting political alignments.

“Syria was a source of concern and disturbance, and its interference in Lebanese affairs was negative,” al-Sharaa said, referring to the Assad government. “Syria will no longer be a case of negative interference in Lebanon," he said, pledging that it would respect Lebanese sovereignty.

Al-Sharaa also repeated longstanding allegations that Assad's government was behind the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which was followed by other killings of prominent Lebanese critics of Assad.

Last year, the United Nations closed an international tribunal investigating the assassination after it convicted three members of Lebanon's Hezbollah — an ally of Assad — in absentia. Hezbollah denied involvement in the massive Feb. 14, 2005 bombing, which killed Hariri and 21 others.

“We hope that all those who committed crimes against the Lebanese will be held accountable, and that fair trials will be held for those who committed crimes against the Syrian people,” Jumblatt said.