The arrest of former National Police chief Farid Bencheikh fuels the flames of clan warfare
The former head of the Algerian National Police, Farid Bencheikh, has been in the main operational investigation centre for more than 24 hours. He is being questioned about his alleged ‘relations with the French secret services’. The Bencheikh soap opera is not about to end.
Arrested on 25 April this year, after having been removed from his post as Director General of National Security four months earlier, on 8 January, Zinedine Farid Bencheikh was released ten days later, on 6 May, after being heard by the examining magistrate of the Blida military court. He was in no way banned from leaving the country, as is the case for many Algerian executives. A few days later, he flew to Paris, where his son was living, before travelling to Geneva and Vienna. Those who expected him to stay in Europe and flee Algeria for good were surprised by his return to his homeland. The man would have received assurances that he would have nothing to fear from his opponents in the regime. His adversaries were Major General Djebbar Mehenna, then head of Foreign Security, and his cronies.
While General Djebbar was in office, all was well with Bencheikh. But as soon as he was asked to leave, everything fell apart. The former DGSN dossier came out again, with the indictment ready.
First of all, it was a clear message to President Tebboune: ‘If you intend to go far in dismantling the Chengriha clan, watch out!’ In other words, there is no point in thinking of getting rid of the commander of the Gendarmerie, General Yahia Cherif Ouelhadj. The latter, who is on the support staff of army chief of staff General Saïd Chengriha, instigated a provocation against supporters of the country's most popular club on 21 September, when scuffles broke out at the entrance and inside the new Douera stadium, costing the life of a Mouloudia d'Alger fan. Worse still, the gendarmes responsible for the riots arrested and imprisoned 14 fans in an attempt to keep up the tension.
It was a Machiavellian plan that failed miserably. A plan reminiscent of that of the former head of the Gendarmerie, General Ghani Belksir, who in October 2018 had planned riots in front of stadiums to call for the ouster of President Bouteflika. Late in the evening, at 10pm, orders were given to cancel all football matches in the two divisions of the championship.
Tebboune implicated in corruption by his son Khaled
General Ghani Belksir is back on the agenda. The arrest of Farid Bencheikh was followed by that of his daughter, who has no connection with her father's business dealings. But according to people close to General Chengriha's circle, this is a way of putting pressure on the former head of the Gendarmerie to make public the files he has on Abdelmadjid Tebboune. It was under his command that the Gendarmerie conducted an investigation into his son Khaled, arrested in June 2018 in a corruption case linked to the current tenant of the El-Mouradia presidential palace, when he was Minister of Housing. It was he who granted extension exemptions to property developers in exchange for huge sums of money. In reality, his son Khaled only acted as a middleman.
Will Belksir finally give in to Chengriha's pressure and break the blockade longed for by General Djebbar, who is eager for revenge and a return to business as usual in 2020? Let's wait and see...
