Algeria Arrests Former Tunisian Intelligence Chief, Hands Him over to Tunisia

Algeria arrested former Tunisian intelligence chief Lazhar Longo and handed him over to Tunisia. (Getty Images)
Algeria arrested former Tunisian intelligence chief Lazhar Longo and handed him over to Tunisia. (Getty Images)
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Algeria Arrests Former Tunisian Intelligence Chief, Hands Him over to Tunisia

Algeria arrested former Tunisian intelligence chief Lazhar Longo and handed him over to Tunisia. (Getty Images)
Algeria arrested former Tunisian intelligence chief Lazhar Longo and handed him over to Tunisia. (Getty Images)

Algeria arrested former Tunisian intelligence chief Lazhar Longo and handed him over to Tunisia after he turned up in the neighboring country, a Tunisian security official told Reuters on Thursday.

He was reportedly arrested while trying to illegally cross the border between the two countries.

Observers believe his arrest is a result of security coordination between Algiers and Tunis.

Algeria did not immediately comment on the arrest.

A controversial figure, Longo, who also served as a Tunisian security attaché in Paris, was sacked and placed under house arrest last year after President Kais Saied seized control of executive power and closed the parliament.

Longo is close to former Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem al-Mechichi and the moderate Islamist Ennahda movement.



Palestinians in Jenin Observe a General Strike

A Palestinian police officer attempts to disperse demonstrators during a protest against clashes between Palestinian security forces and militants in the northern occupied West Bank city of Jenin on December 21, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
A Palestinian police officer attempts to disperse demonstrators during a protest against clashes between Palestinian security forces and militants in the northern occupied West Bank city of Jenin on December 21, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
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Palestinians in Jenin Observe a General Strike

A Palestinian police officer attempts to disperse demonstrators during a protest against clashes between Palestinian security forces and militants in the northern occupied West Bank city of Jenin on December 21, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
A Palestinian police officer attempts to disperse demonstrators during a protest against clashes between Palestinian security forces and militants in the northern occupied West Bank city of Jenin on December 21, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)

Palestinians in the volatile northern West Bank town of Jenin are observing a general strike called by militant groups to protest a rare crackdown by Palestinian security forces.
An Associated Press reporter in Jenin heard gunfire and explosions, apparently from clashes between militants and Palestinian security forces. It was not immediately clear if anyone was killed or wounded. There was no sign of Israeli troops in the area.
Shops were closed in the city on Monday, the day after militants killed a member of the Palestinian security forces and wounded two others.
Militant groups called for a general strike across the territory, accusing the security forces of trying to disarm them in support of Israel’s half-century occupation of the territory.
The Western-backed Palestinian Authority is internationally recognized but deeply unpopular among Palestinians, in part because it cooperates with Israel on security matters. Israel accuses the authority of incitement and of failing to act against armed groups.
The Palestinian Authority blamed Sunday’s attack on “outlaws.” It says it is committed to maintaining law and order but will not police the occupation.
The Palestinian Authority exercises limited authority in population centers in the West Bank. Israel captured the territory in the 1967 Mideast War, and the Palestinians want it to form the main part of their future state.
Israel’s current government is opposed to Palestinian statehood and says it will maintain open-ended security control over the territory. Violence has soared in the West Bank following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, which ignited the war there.