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Trial Opens in Algeria Militant Beheading of French Mountaineer

Francoise Grandclaude arrives at the Algiers courthouse for the trial in the 2014 kidnapping and beheading of her partner, French mountaineer Herve Gourdel, claimed by a militant affiliate of the ISIS group | AFP
Francoise Grandclaude arrives at the Algiers courthouse for the trial in the 2014 kidnapping and beheading of her partner, French mountaineer Herve Gourdel, claimed by a militant affiliate of the ISIS group | AFP
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Trial Opens in Algeria Militant Beheading of French Mountaineer

Francoise Grandclaude arrives at the Algiers courthouse for the trial in the 2014 kidnapping and beheading of her partner, French mountaineer Herve Gourdel, claimed by a militant affiliate of the ISIS group | AFP
Francoise Grandclaude arrives at the Algiers courthouse for the trial in the 2014 kidnapping and beheading of her partner, French mountaineer Herve Gourdel, claimed by a militant affiliate of the ISIS group | AFP

The trial opened before an Algiers court Thursday in the 2014 kidnapping and beheading of a French mountaineer claimed by a militant faction affiliated to the ISIS group.

Just one of the alleged kidnappers of 55-year-old mountain guide instructor Herve Gourdel was in court for the trial -- the other seven are being tried in absentia.

Members of Gourdel's family, including his partner Francoise Grandclaude, were in the public gallery.

The main defendant Abdelmalek Hamzaoui was brought to court by ambulance in a wheelchair accompanied by a medical team and watched over by police special forces.

At the request of defense lawyers, the trial opening had been delayed for two weeks because of his ill health.

Hamzaoui could face the death penalty if convicted.

Six other defendants in court are accused of failing to inform authorities promptly of Gourdel's abduction.

Five were Gourdel's climbing companions and spent 14 hours in captivity along with him.

The sixth is accused of failing to promptly report the theft of his car by the kidnappers to transport the captive Frenchman.

All six face up to five years in prison if they are found guilty.

Gourdel's murder sparked outrage in both France and Algeria.

The adventure enthusiast had traveled to Algeria at the invitation of his climbing companions to try out a new climb.

His kidnappers from the Jund al-Khilafa (Soldiers of the Caliphate) group demanded an end to airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria by a US-led coalition that included France.

Three days after abducting him, they released grisly video footage of his beheading.

Gourdel's body was not recovered until January the following year after an operation involving some 3,000 Algerian troops.

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Senior US Republican Demands Biden Administration Shut Gaza Aid Pier

A US Army soldier gestures as trucks loaded with humanitarian aid arrive at the US-built floating pier Trident before reaching the beach on the coast of the Gaza Strip, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP)
A US Army soldier gestures as trucks loaded with humanitarian aid arrive at the US-built floating pier Trident before reaching the beach on the coast of the Gaza Strip, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP)
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Senior US Republican Demands Biden Administration Shut Gaza Aid Pier

A US Army soldier gestures as trucks loaded with humanitarian aid arrive at the US-built floating pier Trident before reaching the beach on the coast of the Gaza Strip, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP)
A US Army soldier gestures as trucks loaded with humanitarian aid arrive at the US-built floating pier Trident before reaching the beach on the coast of the Gaza Strip, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP)

The Republican lawmaker who leads the House Armed Services Committee has written to the Biden administration formally demanding it shut down its aid pier off the coast Gaza, calling the operation ineffective, risky and a waste of money.

The offshore floating pier, announced by Biden in March as a response to the threat of famine in the Gaza Strip, was constructed off the coast of the enclave by the US military as a way to bring in food and other aid supplies.

The US military has been authorized to operate it until the end of July, but a US Agency for International Development official said this week that the administration could seek to extend it for at least another month.

"I urge the Administration to immediately cease this failed operation before further catastrophe occurs and consider alternative means of land and air-based humanitarian aid delivery," House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers wrote in a letter seen by Reuters.

The letter, sent to White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, has not been previously reported.

Rogers has long opposed the pier and has called in the past for it to be dismantled, but he had not previously expressed that view in a formal written letter to the administration.

His armed services committee is the Pentagon's top oversight body in the House of Representatives, and formal requests from its chairman traditionally require a response from Pentagon officials.

Aid first began arriving via the US-built pier on May 17 into Gaza, where nearly all the 2.3 million residents have been displaced by Israel's campaign against the Hamas movement.

But rough seas have damaged the pier, forcing repairs, and poor weather has limited the number of days the pier has been operational. Most of the supplies that have reached the shore have yet to be distributed by UN aid agencies which say their operations have been limited by insecurity.

"As of June 19, JLOTS had only been operational about 10 days and had only moved 3,415 metric tons onto the beach in Gaza," Rogers wrote, using the US military's acronym for the pier system, known as Joint Logistics Over the Shore.

According to US military data, as of Tuesday, 8,332 pallets had been delivered via the pier. But around 84% of them have been sitting on Gaza's coast in a marshalling area waiting to be picked up by the United Nations for distribution.

The World Food Program paused deliveries earlier this month over security concerns.

Reuters was given rare access to the US military-run pier off Gaza on Tuesday and saw aid pallets being moved from a vessel onto the 1,200-foot (370 m)-long pier as it bobbed around with the incoming waves. The pallets were then taken by trucks to the coast.

The operation is complex, involving about 1,000 US military personnel. The Pentagon estimates the first 90 days of operation will cost about $230 million.

Rogers also noted that three US servicemembers suffered non-combat injuries while deployed on the operation.

"I urge the Administration to immediately cease this failed operation before further catastrophe occurs and consider alternative means of land and air-based humanitarian aid delivery," Rogers wrote.