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Algerian President’s Visit to Paris Postponed

The sculpture of Emir Abdelkader located in Amboise, France [Guillaume Souvant/AFP]
The sculpture of Emir Abdelkader located in Amboise, France [Guillaume Souvant/AFP]
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Algerian President’s Visit to Paris Postponed

The sculpture of Emir Abdelkader located in Amboise, France [Guillaume Souvant/AFP]
The sculpture of Emir Abdelkader located in Amboise, France [Guillaume Souvant/AFP]

A visit by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to Paris was postponed, French newspaper Le Figaro cited sources as saying.

According to information reported by the newspaper, the symbolic trip of the Algerian president, which was to take place on May 2- 3, has been postponed by mutual agreement without new dates being set.

Le Figaro added that the postponement was confirmed by French and Algerian sources who did not specify the reasons, but pointed to a “lack of preparation of files”.

Anne Marie Descôtes, Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, traveled to Algiers on Sunday, where she met with her Algerian counterpart, Ammar Ballani, to put the final touches on the preparations for the visit.

However, many observers had expected the trip to be adjourned due to the protests taking place in France over the government’s pension reforms.

French newspaper L’Opinion reported on Saturday that the visit was expected to take place between May 2 and 5, adding that the most important items on its agenda would include a speech that Tebboune would deliver before the National Assembly, over bilateral economic ties.

The speech was also expected to deal with the human dimension of the relations between the two countries, which is represented by the millions of Algerians residing in France, the French of Algerian origin, and generations of immigrants’ children.

Algeria is calling for greater flexibility in the French visa system, and for activating the agreement on the movement of persons between the two countries that dates back to 1968, which gives preference to Algerians wishing to pursue studies in French universities.

The agenda, which was agreed upon by senior officials in the two countries, includes a visit by Tebboune and French President Emmanuel Macron to the Amboise Palace in the heart of France, the location of a steel structure representing Emir Abdelkader, who was imprisoned in the same place in the 19th century, after popular revolutions he waged against the French invasion of Algeria.

Prince Abdelkader is considered the founder of the modern Algerian state and a symbol of tolerance between religions. He was known for defending the Christians of Syria in 1860 against persecution.

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Israeli Drone Strike along Lebanon-Syria Border Kills Syrian Businessman Close to the Govt

Vehicles drive along a road, on the day of the parliamentary elections, in Damascus, Syria July 15, 2024. (Reuters)
Vehicles drive along a road, on the day of the parliamentary elections, in Damascus, Syria July 15, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli Drone Strike along Lebanon-Syria Border Kills Syrian Businessman Close to the Govt

Vehicles drive along a road, on the day of the parliamentary elections, in Damascus, Syria July 15, 2024. (Reuters)
Vehicles drive along a road, on the day of the parliamentary elections, in Damascus, Syria July 15, 2024. (Reuters)

An Israeli drone strike on a car Monday near the Lebanon-Syria border killed a prominent Syrian businessman who was sanctioned by the United States and had close ties to the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, according to pro-government media and an official from an Iran-backed group.

Mohammed Baraa Katerji was killed when a drone strike hit his car near the area of Saboura, a few kilometers or miles inside Syria after apparently crossing from Lebanon. Israel's air force has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in recent years, mainly targeting members of Iran-backed groups and Syria's military. But it has been rare to hit personalities from within the government.

The strike also came as Israel and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah party have been exchanging fire on an almost daily basis since early October, after the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

An official from an Iran-backed group said that Katerji was killed instantly while in his SUV on the highway linking Lebanon with Syria. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media.

The pro-government Al-Watan daily quoted unnamed “sources” as saying that Katerji, 48, was killed in a “Zionist drone strike on his car.” It gave no further details.

Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based opposition war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said that Katerji was killed while in a car with Lebanese license plates, adding that he was apparently targeted because he used to fund the “Syrian resistance” against Israel in the Golan Heights, as well as his links to Iran-backed groups in Syria.

Israel, which has vowed to stop Iranian entrenchment in its northern neighbor, has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets in government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years, but it rarely acknowledges them.

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, sanctioned Katerji in 2018 as Assad’s middleman to trade oil with the ISIS group and for facilitating weapons shipments from Iraq to Syria.

The US Treasury declined Associated Press requests for comment. The sanctions imposed on Katerji were authorized under an Obama-era executive order issued in 2011 that prohibits certain transactions with Syria. A search of the OFAC database indicates that the sanctions were still in effect against Katerji and his firm at the time of his death.

OFAC said in 2018 that Katerji was responsible for import and export activities in Syria and assisted with transporting weapons and ammunition under the pretext of importing and exporting food items. These shipments were overseen by the US designated Syrian General Intelligence Directorate, according to OFAC.

It added that the Syria-based Katerji Company is a trucking company that has also shipped weapons from Iraq to Syria. Additionally, in a 2016 trade deal between the government of Syria and ISIS, the Katerji Company was identified as the exclusive agent for providing supplies to ISIS-controlled areas, including oil and other commodities.

Katerji and his brother, Hussam — widely referred to in Syria as the “Katerji brothers” — got involved in oil business a few years after the country’s conflict began in March 2011. Hussam Katerji is a former member of Syria's parliament.