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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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SDF Responds to ISIS Attacks in Eastern Syria

Members of the SDF in the Deir Ezzor countryside. (Asharq Al-Awsat file)
Members of the SDF in the Deir Ezzor countryside. (Asharq Al-Awsat file)
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SDF Responds to ISIS Attacks in Eastern Syria

Members of the SDF in the Deir Ezzor countryside. (Asharq Al-Awsat file)
Members of the SDF in the Deir Ezzor countryside. (Asharq Al-Awsat file)

Suspected ISIS cells have escalated their activities in eastern Syria’s Deir Ezzor province, staging a series of attacks on security posts and imposing extortion fees on local residents, sources said on Thursday.

Military, security, and civil sources in northeastern Syria said ISIS remnants launched coordinated assaults in recent days, including a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attack on a security center in the town of Diban, marking one of the most intense waves of violence in the area since the start of the year.

“The cells have become increasingly active, with suspicious movements observed following multiple attacks on checkpoints and security facilities,” one local source said. “They are using intimidation tactics and extorting civilians.”

In a statement on Thursday, the Internal Security Forces, known as Asayish, confirmed that one of their centers in Diban, located in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, was attacked late Wednesday night.

“ISIS-affiliated militants on motorbikes launched an RPG and opened fire on our post in Diban,” the statement said.

Although ISIS lost its territorial control in Syria in 2019, sleeper cells continue to operate in remote desert areas, targeting security forces and civilians in ambushes and hit-and-run attacks.

Farhad Shami, head of the Syrian Democratic Forces’ media center, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Diban attack was one of two coordinated strikes carried out by ISIS-linked cells.

“In the first incident, ISIS fighters used medium-range weapons and rocket-propelled grenades against an Asayish checkpoint in Diban,” Shami said. “Our forces quickly intervened and fought back, forcing the cell to withdraw.”

In a second attack, militants targeted an SDF military vehicle in the nearby town of Jadid Akidat, also in eastern Deir Ezzor, firing an RPG and small-arms rounds at the patrol, Shami said.

“The response was immediate. Our units unleashed heavy fire on the attackers, compelling them to retreat, leaving several of their members wounded,” he added.

A United Nations report published in July last year estimated the number of ISIS fighters in Syria at between 3,000 and 5,000, many of whom are believed to be hiding in the rugged terrain between Syria and Iraq.

The group's enduring presence has raised concerns among regional authorities and international observers about a potential resurgence, particularly in areas where security forces are stretched thin.