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Tebboune: Algeria Won’t Tolerate Any Foreign Interference in its Internal Affairs

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (dpa)
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (dpa)
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Tebboune: Algeria Won’t Tolerate Any Foreign Interference in its Internal Affairs

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (dpa)
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (dpa)

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune stressed on Monday that his country will not tolerate any foreign meddling in its internal affairs, underlining the importance of mutual respect between countries.

Challenges have become more serious, in light of the various crises in the region and tension in many neighboring countries, he said during the opening ceremony of the Heads of Diplomatic, Consular Missions Conference in Algiers.

He pointed to the tension in Libya due to the foreign meddling of several countries, as well as the situation in the Sahel region, which has been facing multifaceted conflicts.

“Our priority lies in strengthening the African Union to protect it from malicious attempts targeting its unity and pivotal role,” Tebboune urged, stressing the need to promote joint Arab action.

Moreover, he said the Arab summit, which will be held in Algiers in March, should act as a valuable opportunity to renew the collective commitment to support the Palestinian cause and bolster the role of the Arab League.

He called on Algerian envoys across the world to intensify efforts to achieve security and stability in the region, especially by participating in resolving the Libyan crisis and promoting stability in the Sahara region.

Tebboune further underscored the importance of taking advantage of Algeria’s upcoming one-year membership in the United Nations Security Council, from 2024 to 2025, to contribute in efforts aimed at maintaining international peace and security.

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A British TV Art Expert Who Sold Works to a Suspected Hezbollah Financier is Sentenced to Prison

FILED - 27 October 2023, Iran, Chomein: A woman sorts flags of the Lebanese Hezbollah militia in a factory. Photo: Arne Immanuel Bansch/dpa
FILED - 27 October 2023, Iran, Chomein: A woman sorts flags of the Lebanese Hezbollah militia in a factory. Photo: Arne Immanuel Bansch/dpa
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A British TV Art Expert Who Sold Works to a Suspected Hezbollah Financier is Sentenced to Prison

FILED - 27 October 2023, Iran, Chomein: A woman sorts flags of the Lebanese Hezbollah militia in a factory. Photo: Arne Immanuel Bansch/dpa
FILED - 27 October 2023, Iran, Chomein: A woman sorts flags of the Lebanese Hezbollah militia in a factory. Photo: Arne Immanuel Bansch/dpa

An art expert who appeared on the BBC's Bargain Hunt show was sentenced Friday to two and a half years in prison for failing to report his sale of pricey works to a suspected financier of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group.
At a previous hearing, Oghenochuko Ojiri, 53, had pleaded guilty to eight offenses under the Terrorism Act 2000. The art sales for about 140,000 pounds ($185,000) to Nazem Ahmad, a diamond and art dealer sanctioned by the UK and US as a Hezbollah financier, took place between October 2020 and December 2021. The sanctions were designed to prevent anyone in the UK or US from trading with Ahmad or his businesses, The Associated Press said.
Ojiri, who also appeared on the BBC’s Antiques Road Trip, faced a possible sentence of five years in prison in the hearing at London’s Central Criminal Court, which is better known as the Old Bailey.
In addition to the prison term, Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb said Ojiri faces an additional year on license — a period of time after a prison sentence ends when an offender must stay out of trouble or risk going back to prison.
She told Ojiri he had been involved in a commercial relationship “for prestige and profit” and that until his involvement with Ahmad, he was “someone to be admired.”
“You knew about Ahmad’s suspected involvement in financing terrorism and the way the art market can be exploited by someone like him," she said. "This is the nadir — there is one direction your life can go and I am confident that you will not be in front of the courts again.”
The Met’s investigation into Ojiri was carried out alongside Homeland Security in the US, which is conducting a wider investigation into alleged money laundering by Ahmad using shell companies.
“This prosecution, using specific Terrorism Act legislation, is the first of its kind and should act as a warning to all art dealers that we can, and will, pursue those who knowingly do business with people identified as funders of terrorist groups,” said Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command.
Ahmad was sanctioned in 2019 by the US Treasury, which said he was a prominent Lebanon-based money launderer involved in smuggling blood diamonds, which are mined in conflict zones and sold to finance violence.
Two years ago, the UK Treasury froze Ahmad’s assets because he financed Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite militant organization that has been designated an international terrorist group.
Following Ojiri's arrest in April 2023, the Met obtained a warrant to seize a number of artworks, including a Picasso and Andy Warhol paintings, belonging to Ahmad and held in two warehouses in the UK The collection, valued at almost 1 million pounds, is due to be sold with the funds to be reinvested back into the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Home Office.