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Jailed Algerian Ex-Minister Dies of Coronavirus

Ex-telecom minister Moussa Benhamadi. (AFP)
Ex-telecom minister Moussa Benhamadi. (AFP)
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Jailed Algerian Ex-Minister Dies of Coronavirus

Ex-telecom minister Moussa Benhamadi. (AFP)
Ex-telecom minister Moussa Benhamadi. (AFP)

A former Algerian cabinet minister detained in a corruption case has died from the COVID-19 illness, his brother said Saturday.

Ex-telecom minister Moussa Benhamadi, 67, who was close to ousted president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, contracted the novel coronavirus earlier this month and died on Friday, his brother Abdelmalek Benhamadi told AFP.

He had contracted the disease in prison and been transferred to an Algiers hospital where he died.

Another brother, Hocine Benhamadi, told the website of French-language daily Liberte that the ex-minister had fallen ill on July 4 and was only hospitalized nine days later.

Algeria has declared some 22,000 cases of COVID-19, including more than 1,000 deaths.

Moussa Benhamadi had been held in pre-trial detention at El Harrach prison since September 2019 as part of an investigation into corruption involving the Algerian high-tech firm Condor Electronics.

Bouteflika, who was Algeria's longest-serving president, was forced to resign in April last year after losing the backing of the army amid massive street protests against his decision to seek a fifth term.

Following his departure, authorities launched a string of graft investigations into members of his entourage accused of abusing their power.

Bouteflika's powerful brother Said and two former intelligence chiefs have been jailed, as have powerful businessmen and former government ministers.

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Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Resolution 1701 Only Tangible Proposal to End Lebanon Conflict

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
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Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Resolution 1701 Only Tangible Proposal to End Lebanon Conflict

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)

Politicians in Beirut said they have not received any credible information about Washington resuming its mediation efforts towards reaching a ceasefire in Lebanon despite reports to the contrary.

Efforts came to a halt after US envoy Amos Hochstein’s last visit to Beirut three weeks ago.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri dismissed the reports as media fodder, saying nothing official has been received.

Lebanon is awaiting tangible proposals on which it can build its position, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The only credible proposal on the table is United Nations Security Council resolution 1701, whose articles must be implemented in full by Lebanon and Israel, “not just Lebanon alone,” he stressed.

Resolution 1701 was issued to end the 2006 July war between Hezbollah and Israel and calls for removing all weapons from southern Lebanon and that the only armed presence there be restricted to the army and UN peacekeepers.

Western diplomatic sources in Beirut told Asharq Al-Awsat that Berri opposes one of the most important articles of the proposed solution to end the current conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.

He is opposed to the German and British participation in the proposed mechanism to monitor the implementation of resolution 1701. The other participants are the United States and France.

Other sources said Berri is opposed to the mechanism itself since one is already available and it is embodied in the UN peacekeepers, whom the US and France can join.

The sources revealed that the solution to the conflict has a foreign and internal aspect. The foreign one includes Israel, the US and Russia and seeks guarantees that would prevent Hezbollah from rearming itself. The second covers Lebanese guarantees on the implementation of resolution 1701.

Berri refused to comment on the media reports, but told Asharq Al-Awsat that this was the first time that discussions are being held about guarantees.

He added that “Israel is now in crisis because it has failed to achieve its military objectives, so it has resorted to more killing and destruction undeterred.”

He highlighted the “steadfastness of the UN peacekeepers in the South who have refused to leave their positions despite the repeated Israeli attacks.”