Only two print media echoed this news. One in Arabic, El-Khabar, and the other in French, L'Expression. The content is identical in both languages. Not a word more or less.
Reading the details of the article, which even gives the exact number of French (5) and Moroccan (12) officers and the names of the towns attacked during a meeting held less than 24 hours ago, one is inclined to believe that it can only be the work of an Algerian mole who courageously infiltrated this very important meeting. Thus, there is no doubt that the information was conceived and elaborated in the laboratories of the Algerian secret services.
Despite its seriousness, the news was not repeated at all on the evening editions of the television news, nor was it broadcast by any other organisation the following day. Nor was there any official reaction.
This scoop, concocted by the grey eminences of the Foreign Security Directorate, failed to rouse public opinion and the regime's highest authorities. Instead, it opened the door to a great deal of speculation about the intentions of the perpetrators of this hoax, which had the opposite of the desired effect.
In this far-fetched tripartite conspiracy theory, the perpetrators lumped France in with Morocco and Israel. This implies that Algiers should, in a matter of hours, withdraw its ambassador in Paris, break off diplomatic, economic and trade relations and close its airspace to French aircraft. In other words, apply the same rules as those used against Morocco and Israel. France has become the ally of the sworn enemies of the new Algeria of the Tebboune-Chengriha tandem.
Obviously, none of this will happen. For it has been proven that this hoax was ill-conceived and has ended up annoying President Tebboune and his entourage. As suspicion reigns in the arcana of the Algerian regime, there is every reason to believe that this ill-conceived scenario is likely to interfere with Tebboune's upcoming visit to Paris, scheduled for 16 June. This visit is so controversial on both the French and Algerian sides that it could be cancelled at any time.
Until now, the Algerian press has been at pains to pit the Moroccan secret services against France and its services, talking about espionage operations carried out by the Moroccans against France. This time, however, the scriptwriters in Benaknoun (headquarters of the internal security operations centre) have made a serious mistake by putting the French services on the Moroccan side and forging a fictitious alliance with them to the detriment of Algeria, "which continues to win resounding victories both on the national and international stage, where it has made a major diplomatic comeback", as the Arabic-language daily El-Khabar points out in arguing the veracity of this scoop, which in the end was of no interest to anyone. A real flash in the pan.
