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Former Algerian Minister Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison

Former Algerian Energy Minister Chakib Khelil (Getty)
Former Algerian Energy Minister Chakib Khelil (Getty)
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Former Algerian Minister Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison

Former Algerian Energy Minister Chakib Khelil (Getty)
Former Algerian Energy Minister Chakib Khelil (Getty)

A former Algerian energy minister was sentenced in absentia Thursday to 20 years in prison for corruption.

Chakib Khelil headed the energy ministry for a decade under the late president Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

The Sidi M’Hamed court in Algiers also issued on Thursday prison terms of between five and 10 years to former senior officials including ex-ministers Amar Ghoul and Mohamed Bedjaoui, along with two former heads of state energy firm Sonatrach, Noureddine Bouterfa and Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour.

All of the accused were found guilty of “squandering public funds when concluding contracts with foreign companies.”

The court also confirmed an international arrest warrant against Khelil.

In 2013, the North African country issued an international arrest warrant for Khelil over a case involving receiving commissions from a subsidiary of Eni in return for signing contracts with it to work in Algeria.

He returned to Algeria in 2016 after the charges were dropped, only to flee again after Bouteflika’s 2019 resignation under the pressure of the army and protests.

Khelil fled to the US, then in 2013, an international order to arrest him was issued.

Yet, he was acquitted of charges of receiving bribes from Eni in return for Algerian contracts.

Khelil returned to Algeria after canceling the arrest warrant, but the Supreme Court of Algeria reopened the corruption case, so he left Algeria again.

An Algerian court also issued a six-year prison sentence in the case of the former chief executive officer of the National Company for Passenger Sea Transport, Kamel Issad, over corruption charges that he faced upon his dismissal in June, according to Algeria Press Service.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune sacked Issad on June 2 for allegedly harming people’s interests and distorting the image of Algeria.

A ship - almost empty - departed from Marseille to Algiers despite heavy pressure on flights to Algiers at the beginning of the summer. This caused a scandal.

The commercial director of the National Company for Passenger Sea Transport, Karim Bouznad, was also handed a five-year jail term and a €6,700 fine was imposed on him.

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Arab World

UN: Situation in West Darfur ‘Catastrophic’

A displaced Sudanese woman sits next to children in a town in northern Darfur (Reuters) 
A displaced Sudanese woman sits next to children in a town in northern Darfur (Reuters) 
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UN: Situation in West Darfur ‘Catastrophic’

A displaced Sudanese woman sits next to children in a town in northern Darfur (Reuters) 
A displaced Sudanese woman sits next to children in a town in northern Darfur (Reuters) 

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Sudan (OCHA) said on Sunday there is a “massive” need for humanitarian assistance in North Darfur, adding that situation in the Zamzam and Abu Shouk displacement camps is catastrophic.

“Civilians are trapped. Aid cannot reach those who need it most,” the office said on its X account, adding that displaced people in the Tawila camp are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

Meanwhile, Salwa Abdullah, a Darfur resident, told Asharq Al-Awsat on Sunday that she buried her five children in the Darfur desert, with no sign to locate their graves if she ever came back to visit them.

“How can I survive without them,” she said.

Salwa dug their graves with the help of her father, during their journey from al-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, to the relatively safe town of Tawila.

Speaking on the phone while crying, she said, “I tried to get them to a safe area, away from shells and bullets. I didn’t imagine they will die of thirst and then buried in a vast desert with no sign to mark their graves, only small sand hills that will disappear from wind and rain.”

Salwa’s oldest child was 13. She said she watched her five children struggle to death one by one, after they spent several days on the road to Tawila, located some 65 kilometers from al-Fasher, the last major city controlled by the Sudanese Army in the Darfur region, which has been besieged by the Rapid Support Forces for the past year.

“In just two days I lost two daughters and three sons, and shortly before, I lost my husband. I still ignore if he is alive or dead. Even if I find him how can I tell him that his five children are dead,” said Salwa, who is in her forties.

“I cried a lot hoping my tears will wake them up from their coma. I can't describe my feelings back then. I wished I was dead instead.”

Salaw, who is pregnant, said the family left al-Fasher on foot carrying water bottles. “But due to high temperatures during the daytime hours, the water ran out on the third day,” she explained.

The grieved mother has now reached the Tawila town to join thousands of other families that were displaced from al-Fasher due to fighting between the Army and the RSF.

“Many families lost their children on their journey to Tawila, currently controlled by the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdul Wahid al Nur,” said Adam Rijal, spokesman for the General Coordination for Displaced Persons and Refugees.

“The displaced are living in dire humanitarian conditions and need basic necessities such as food, drinking water and shelter,” he said.