21:53 – Algeria: a week after the chief of police, the head of the gendarmerie replaced

The commander-in-chief of the Algerian gendarmerie has been replaced by presidential decree, announced Wednesday the Ministry of Defense, a week after the sacking by the head of state of the powerful boss of the police General Ahmed Gaïd Salah, Deputy Minister of Defense and Chief of Staff of the Algerian Army, presided on Wednesday the handover ceremony between General Menad Nouba and his successor, the ministry said in a statement . "In accordance with the presidential decree of July 3, 2018, I officially appointed Commander of the National Gendarmerie General Ghali Belekcir, in succession to Major General Menad Nouba," said General Salah, quoted in the statement. The reasons for this change have not been specified. Some Algerian media reports that General Nuba, the chief of the gendarmerie, has retired since September 2015. On 26 June, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika dismissed the powerful head of the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN), General Abdelghani Hamel. , who led the Algerian police since 2010 and was often cited as a potential successor to the president. His dismissal was not motivated, but he intervened shortly after he criticized the investigation carried out by the police on a record seizure of 700 kg of cocaine at the end of May at the port of Oran (400 km at the west of Algiers) which has uncovered potential cases of patronage and trafficking of influences that may involve senior officials. These movements at the head of the Algerian security services also intervene a few months from the presidential election scheduled for April 2019. The presidential camp has been pressing for several weeks Mr Bouteflika, 81 years and in power since 1999, to run for a fifth term but The latter, weakened by the effects of a stroke in 2013, has not yet announced his intentions. (Belga)

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