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Algerian Ex-Defense Minister Hits Back at Rivals

Algerians shop at the produce market in the Bab el-Oued suburb of Algeria's capital Algiers, on January 26, 2021. (Photo by RYAD KRAMDI / AFP)
Algerians shop at the produce market in the Bab el-Oued suburb of Algeria's capital Algiers, on January 26, 2021. (Photo by RYAD KRAMDI / AFP)
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Algerian Ex-Defense Minister Hits Back at Rivals

Algerians shop at the produce market in the Bab el-Oued suburb of Algeria's capital Algiers, on January 26, 2021. (Photo by RYAD KRAMDI / AFP)
Algerians shop at the produce market in the Bab el-Oued suburb of Algeria's capital Algiers, on January 26, 2021. (Photo by RYAD KRAMDI / AFP)

Algeria’s former defense minister General Khaled Nezzar has launched a legal battle against his business rivals.

His only partner in the Smart Link Communication (SLC) Company, Mouloud Meghzi, has been in jail since Dec. 14 after he filed a lawsuit against Nezzar and accused him of “fraud and forgery.”

On Wednesday, a court in Algiers postponed reviewing a counter lawsuit filed by Nezzar and his five sons against Meghzi, an American citizen and relative of the former minister’s wife who has been residing in the US for more than 30 years.

The case was adjourned to February at the request of the defense team, which asked for time to read all the documents.

One of Meghzi’s lawyers said he was accused of “targeting the army’s morale” based on “WhatsApp” calls with Hichem Aboud, the wanted former intelligence officer who is residing in France.

He affirmed that Meghzi only shared information and photos belonging to Nezzar and his two sons, Lotfi and Sofiane.

He wondered why his client has been given army-linked charges while his chats and calls with Aboud only tackled his business dispute with Nezzar and his family.

Sending Meghzi to pretrial detention is “arbitrary” since he could be prosecuted out of prison, the lawyer stressed.

“Meghzi is a prominent figure known for specializing in communications techniques and Internet services in Algeria and many countries,” he added.

The US embassy in Algeria has been following up his case, and the US consul attended the court hearing on Wednesday.

In 2019, Meghzi filed the lawsuit against Nezzar, and accused him and his sons of “falsifying” the company’s contracts and raising their contributions to its capital while reducing his share to an extent that prevents him from making any decision regarding its activities.

He also filed a lawsuit against Nezzar’s family in the US since the company has implemented projects there.

Meghazi was the company’s CEO and co-founder for 20 years.

Nezzar was sentenced by the military court in absentia to 20 years in prison on charges of “undermining the authority of the army” and “conspiring” against the state, and he had sought refuge in Spain with his family.

Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaid Salah, who died in late 2019, had backed the charges amid a personal dispute that dates back to the liberation revolution, when Nezzar was still a member of the colonial army.

The charges were dropped and the case was closed a year after Salah’s death and Nezzar then returned from his self-imposed exile on Dec.11, 2020.

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Syria Says Israeli Strikes Kill 18 People in a Large-Scale Attack on Sites

Syrians inspect the damage at the site of overnight Israeli strikes on the outskirts of Masyaf in Syria's central Hama province on September 9, 2024. (AFP)
Syrians inspect the damage at the site of overnight Israeli strikes on the outskirts of Masyaf in Syria's central Hama province on September 9, 2024. (AFP)
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Syria Says Israeli Strikes Kill 18 People in a Large-Scale Attack on Sites

Syrians inspect the damage at the site of overnight Israeli strikes on the outskirts of Masyaf in Syria's central Hama province on September 9, 2024. (AFP)
Syrians inspect the damage at the site of overnight Israeli strikes on the outskirts of Masyaf in Syria's central Hama province on September 9, 2024. (AFP)

The number of people killed in overnight Israeli strikes in Syria has risen to 18 with dozens more wounded, Syria's health minister said Monday — the largest death toll in such an attack since the beginning of the war in Gaza.

One of the sites targeted was a research center used in the development of weapons, a war monitor said. Syrian officials said civilian sites were targeted.

Israel regularly targets military sites in Syria linked to Iran and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. Those strikes have become more frequent as Hezbollah has exchanged fire with Israeli forces for the past 11 months against the backdrop of Israel’s war against Hamas — a Hezbollah ally — in Gaza.

However, the intensity and death toll of Sunday night's strikes were unusual.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of war-torn Syria in recent years, but it rarely acknowledges or discusses the operations. The strikes often target Syrian forces or Iranian-backed groups.

Israel has vowed to stop Iranian entrenchment in Syria, particularly since Syria is a key route for Iran to send weapons to Hezbollah.

Israeli strikes hit several areas in central Syria, damaging a highway in Hama province and sparking fires, Syrian state news agency SANA said.

Speaking to reporters, Syrian Health Minister Hassan al-Ghabbash described the strikes as a "brutal and barbaric aggression." He said the death toll had risen to 18 with nearly 40 wounded.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, said 25 were killed, including at least five civilians, while the others included Syrian army soldiers and members of Hezbollah and other Iran-linked armed groups.

One strike targeted a scientific research center in Masyaf, and others sites where "Iranian militias and experts are stationed to develop weapons in Syria," the observatory said. It said the research center was reportedly used for developing weapons, including short- and medium-range precision missiles and drones.

Minister of Electricity Mohammad al-Zamel said the strikes had caused "truly significant" damage to water and electricity infrastructure.

"This brutal attack targeted civilian targets, and the martyrs were mostly civilians, as were the wounded," he said.

Muhammad Sumaya, a firefighter with the Hama Fire Brigade, was wounded when shrapnel from one of the strikes hit his foot.

When the strikes began, he said while being treated in the Masyaf hospital Monday, "we moved from one place to another to deal with the fires and work to extinguish them." While they were working, he said, "a missile landed right next to us."

Azzam al-Omar, a SANA photographer, said he was hit by shrapnel in the chest when a missile landed while he was photographing the aftermath of a strike.

Local media also reported strikes around the coastal city of Tartous, which the observatory said were the result of air defense missiles falling.

On Monday afternoon, a charred car remained at the scene of one strike and smoke was still rising from some spots where fires had been put out.