عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Algeria Jails Ex-Sonatrach Head for 15 Years for Graft

Former head of state energy giant Sonatrach Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour. (Sonatrach)
Former head of state energy giant Sonatrach Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour. (Sonatrach)
TT
20
TT

Algeria Jails Ex-Sonatrach Head for 15 Years for Graft

Former head of state energy giant Sonatrach Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour. (Sonatrach)
Former head of state energy giant Sonatrach Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour. (Sonatrach)

An Algerian court on Tuesday handed a 15-year prison sentence to the former head of state energy giant Sonatrach in a corruption case.

Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour had been on trial over the 2018 purchase of the Sicilian Augusta oil refinery.

According to Algerian media, the state oil and gas firm had paid ExxonMobil subsidiary Esso Italiana $720 million for the site and associated infrastructure, seen as overpriced for a refinery in operation since the 1950s.

The deal aimed at reducing the bill for importing refined petroleum materials from abroad. However, after sacking Ould Kaddour in 2019, the company borrowed $250 million from foreign banks to repair the refinery.

Upon its conclusion, Ould Kaddour hailed the “profitable project,” which he claimed would provide the public treasury with large sums of money to be spent on importing oil-derived products in a short period of time.

Ould Kaddour, accused of squandering public funds, abuse of office and conflict of interest, was “sentenced to 15 years in prison without parole,” his lawyer said.

The court also sentenced his wife to two years in prison and his son in absentia to ten years in prison and issued an international arrest warrant against him.

Sonatrach's former deputy chief Ahmed Mazighi, who oversaw the purchase, was jailed for seven years.

Another former Sonatrach official indicted in the case was jailed for three years and a fourth was released.

The indictment list also includes “concluding deals in violation of legislative and regulatory provisions to enable others to enjoy unjustified privileges, illegal use of public and private funds for the benefit of others, as well as abuse of power to benefit from exemptions and reductions in taxes and fees.”

The purchase price, initially set at 733 million dollars, had amounted to $2 billion to the actual session of the property.

Ould Kaddour affirmed that the refinery had indeed cost the initial amount and that the difference, namely more than 1.1 billion dollars, included customs bonds, maintenance and renovation costs, as well as environmental compliance.

It is noteworthy that the United Arab Emirates extradited Ould Kaddour in early August. It had arrested him in Dubai after a court in Algiers earlier issued an international arrest warrant against him.

Most Viewed

 
Arab World

Lebanon’s PM Visits Syrian President to Discuss Border Demarcation and Security

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)
TT
20
TT

Lebanon’s PM Visits Syrian President to Discuss Border Demarcation and Security

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam led a high-level ministerial delegation to Syria on Monday for talks with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, marking the most significant diplomatic visit between the two countries since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December.

"My visit to Damascus today aims to open a new page in the history of relations between the two countries, based on mutual respect, restoring trust, good neighborliness," Salam said in a statement on X.

At the center of discussions was implementing a March 28 agreement signed in Saudi Arabia by the Syrian and Lebanese defense ministers to demarcate land and sea borders and improve coordination on border security issues, Salam said in the statement.

The Lebanese-Syrian border witnessed deadly clashes earlier this year and years of unrest in the frontier regions, which have been plagued by weapons and illicit drug smuggling through illegal crossings.

During Monday’s meeting, Salam and Sharaa agreed to form a joint ministerial committee to oversee the implementation of the border agreement, close illegal crossings and suppress smuggling activity along the border.

The border area, especially near Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley and Syria’s Qusayr region, has long been a corridor for illicit trade, arms trafficking, and the movement of fighters — including Hezbollah fighters who backed the Assad government during Syria’s 14-year civil war.

Hezbollah has been significantly weakened in its recent war with Israel and since Assad's ousting, it lost several key smuggling routes it once relied on for weapons transfers.

Lebanon also pressed Syria to provide clarity on the fate of thousands of Lebanese nationals who were forcibly disappeared or imprisoned in Syrian jails in the 1980s and 1990s, during Syria’s nearly 30-year military presence in Lebanon. Human rights groups have long documented the lack of accountability and transparency regarding these cases, with families of the missing holding regular demonstrations in Beirut demanding answers.

Syrian officials for their part raised the issue of Syrian nationals detained in Lebanese prisons, Salam said. Many of the detainees were arrested for illegal entry or alleged involvement in militant activity. Rights advocates in both countries have criticized the lack of due process in many of these cases and the poor conditions inside detention facilities.

Lebanon pledged to hand over people implicated in crimes committed by the Assad government and security forces, many of whom are believed to have fled to Lebanon after the government’s collapse, if found on Lebanese soil, a ministerial source told The Associated Press.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to publicly comment.

In return, Lebanese officials requested the extradition of Syrians wanted in Lebanese courts for high-profile political assassinations, "most notably those involved in the bombing of the Al-Taqwa and Al-Salam mosques, those convicted of assassinating President Bashir Gemayel, and other crimes for which the Assad regime is accused," Salam said.

For decades, Lebanon witnessed a long series of politically motivated assassinations targeting journalists, politicians and security officials, particularly those opposed to Syrian influence. The 2013 twin bombings of the Al-Taqwa and Al-Salam mosques in Tripoli in northern Lebanon killed more than 40 people and intensified sectarian tensions already heightened by the spillover from the Syrian war.

Syria has never officially acknowledged involvement in any of Lebanon’s political assassinations.

Salam said he also pushed for renewed cooperation on the return of Syrian refugees.

Lebanese government officials estimate the country hosts about 1.5 million Syrian refugees, of whom about 755,000 are officially registered with the UN refugee agency, or UNHCR, making it the country with the highest number of refugees per capita in the world.

While Lebanese authorities have long urged the international community to support large-scale repatriation efforts, human rights organizations have cautioned against forced returns, citing ongoing security concerns and a lack of guarantees in Syria.

Since the fall of Assad in December, an estimated 400,000 refugees have returned to Syria from neighboring countries, according to UNHCR, with about half of them coming from Lebanon, but many are hesitant to return because of the dire economic situation and fears of continuing instability in Syria.