Algerian army "invades Libya"

For the last two weeks we have been establishing whether or not Algerian troops have “invaded” Libya as was reported in the London Times on 30 May and in Algeria’s El Watan newspaper on 6 June. Last week, we said that we were “inclined to believe that that some, or even a large part, of these forces (5,000) have moved into Libya, possibly to secure a “cordon sanitaire” on the Libya side of the frontier by taking control of water holes and other strategic points, in order to ensure that there is no penetration of Libyan-based “terrorist” elements into Algeria.”

This week we received direct, personal confirmation from France’s former Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner, that “the Algerian army has invaded Libya”. We have also received confirmation from other sources. Not only have these forces, believed to be at least 5,000 strong and backed up by air power, established, as we suggested last week, a “cordon sanitaire” on the Libyan side of the frontier, but it is widely believed that they have launched strikes deep into Libya against armed groups (generally referred to as “terrorists” or “jihadists”) that have set up base in southern Libya over the last year or so.

As the Algerian constitution prohibits its forces from taking part in military action outside its own territory, the government will almost certainly continue to deny that this operation is taking place, as it has done so far. For instance, on 10 June, Prime Minister Sellal told the Senate that the army will not undertake any operation outside Algerian territory, a principle, he said, that was enshrined in the constitution.

Besides the constitutional issue, many Algerians would find it totally unacceptable that its forces were engaged in concert with those of France and the US, especially in another Muslim country.

Thus, the longer the Libyan operation goes on, the more likely we are to hear the government talking about how Algeria’s borders are being threatened by terrorists and justifying troop movements and the like in the border areas. There have been several such articles in the Algerian media this week. For example, on 18 June it was reported that terrorists in Tunisia, Libya and Mali were trying to carry out attacks on Algeria. The Echorouk daily newspaper said that “The terrorist threat doesn’t stop planning attacks to sabotage Algeria’s security. To this end, Algeria, with its combined forces, expresses its determination to clean up its territory of terrorists.”

For more news and expert analysis about Algeria, please see Algeria Focus and Algeria Politics & Security.

© 2014 Menas Associates

The dissolution of the DRS

There is very rarely much reference to, least of all discussion about, the DRS in the media. It is perhaps significant that El Watan , in particular, has devoted quite a lot of column space this week to its inevitable reconstitution.

We have frequently opined that the DRS cannot continue in its current form and must inevitably be restructured. Its fundamental problem is that the nature of its mandate ' the security of the state' inevitably means that it, or rather its director, accrues more and more power to himself, to the point that a series of ' strong men' , now General Mohamed Mediène, acquire so much power that they effectively become the 'state' , or at least its most powerful person.

That, in itself, is a threat to the state's security, as we have seen throughout much of the last few years in the case of Mediène. Chadli succeeded in restructuring it for a while. Zeroual tried and failed. Bouteflika also tried and failed.

The fact that newspapers such as El Watan can give long editorial discussion to the subject, questioning whether the DRS is actually the department of intelligence and security or the ' real power' , and can openly discuss proposals that it should be radically reconstituted (as Chadli had almost succeeded in doing), is indicative of the mode taking hold in the country for ' significant' and perhaps even ' radical' change.

Indeed, the FFS , which is now beginning to play a more prominent role in the call for radical change, has long argued for the ' necessary dissolution' of the ' political police', arguing that the existence and practices of political police (such as the DRS ) are incompatible with a state based on law. Again, the media, in the principle form of El Watan , has given much space this week to the expression of the views of the FFS ' first secretary, Karim Tabbou, whose arguments on why the political police should be done away with will not make comfortable reading for General Mediène.

For more news and expert analysis about Algeria, please see Algeria Focus and Algeria Politics & Security.

© 2011 Menas Associates

Algeria: Another man dies after setting himself on fire

On Sunday 27th February, a 25 year old man identified as L Abderrazak, set himself alight in Bordj Bou Arredidj 235km east of Algiers. El Watan daily reported that the man had suffered third degree burns and later died in hospital.

This latest case takes the toll of deaths by self immolation in Algeria since mid-January to five. According to the daily, Abderrazak resorted to setting himself on fire over a problem with his identity card.

The spate of self-immolations sweeping North Africa and the Middle East were set off by a young Tunisian in December, sparking the “Jasmine Revolution” which toppled president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali after 23 years in power.

On Saturday 26th February, 50 protesters attended a banned rally in Martyrs Square, Algiers, demanding greater democratic freedoms. Protesters led by the small RCD opposition party chanted: "Algeria, free and democratic!" and "The regime must go!"

Algerian security forces armed with shields and batons dispersed the protesters within two hours without any clashes. In a bid to appease the nation, the government has bowed to some demands by lifting a 19 year old state of emergency.

But, RDC spokesman,Mohsen Belabes, said:“The government is fooling us. On one hand it is saying that the state of emergency has been lifted. On the other hand, it is still using its police to prevent us from expressing our views."

Sources: AFP, Ahram, Sky News, News Australia, Reuters

For more news and expert analysis about Algeria, please see Algeria Focus and Algeria Politics & Security.

British visits to Algeria

There were three significant British visits to Algeria this week. These were by Simon Fraser, Susan Haird and Lady Olga Maitland.

Simon Fraser is head of the British Diplomatic service and the senior foreign policy adviser to the Foreign Secretary. He is responsible for the management of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in London, and British Embassies and High Commissions around the world. Susan Haird is Deputy Chief Executive of UK Trade and Investment (UKTI). Olga Maitland is president of the Algerian-British Business Council and founder (1983) of The Defence and Security Forum.

The most significant of these visits was that of Simon Fraser. In his meeting with Algerian Deputy Minister for Maghreb and African Affairs Abdelkader Messahel and interviews with El Watan and El Khabar he reiterated Britain's position of refusing to pay hostage ransoms or negotiate with terrorists. This is taken in Algiers as a further demonstration by the UK of its support for the Algerian regime and, in the climate of the current hostage crisis in the Sahel, as a 'snub' to France. Fraser also confirmed the UK's willingness to provide Algeria with certain unspecified 'security equipment'.

Haird and Maitland's visits were oriented primarily to furthering British economic interests in Algeria, although both significantly gave positive confirmation of the UK's support for the Algerian regime and its stance on security issues. In an interview with Liberté, Maitland, well-known for her outspoken support for the Algeria regime, confirmed her view, made in the wake of the 11th April 2007 Algiers bombings, that it was safer to wander around the Algiers Casbah than to drive around London.

For more news and expert analysis about Algeria please see Algeria Focus and Algeria Politics & Security.

© 2010 Menas Associates

Latest news about French hostages and the Political repercussions in Algeria

The latest news on the situation from France's senior military officer, Admiral Edouard Guillaud, (via AFP) is that “France has no plans to use force to rescue [the] five hostages held in the Sahara by al-Qa'ida and wants to negotiate with the militant group.

“Military intervention is not, at the moment I am speaking to you, on the agenda," he told Europe 1 radio. "Of course, French authorities are ready to make contact at any moment, the only problem we have is that, as is usual in this kind of matter, it is the hostage takers who control the timetable," he said.

On 23rd September, French Defence Minister Hervé Morin revealed that France was attempting to get in touch with al-Qa'ida to discover if they have any ransom demands following the hostage taking.

Such incidents can have unforeseen consequences. One relates to the long-running 'story' of the 'secret US base' at Tamanrasset, built by Halliburton's corrupt and now closed subsidiary Brown Root Condor Spa (BRC). The 'story', first documented around 2003, that the US had acquired secret basing rights in Algeria's extreme south, has never gained much traction within Algeria itself. That is largely because the story has been raised mostly in international and predominantly English-language media.

However, on Friday (24th September) the Algerian daily El Watan, picking up on this story in France's Le Canard Enchaîné (CE), revealed to the Algerian public that 400 US troops were stationed at a US secret base [outside Tamanrasset] in Algeria's extreme south. Such a story, if true, would be political dynamite. Coming from Algeria's most respected daily, the story, now finally drawn to the attention of the Algerian public, appears to be causing political ructions.

How and why El Watan published the story is intriguing, and says much for the dangers of both the US and Algeria never having told the whole truth about the base. Hence, rumours and false information flourish. El Watan's figure of 400 US troops comes from an unverified media report from 2003 or thereabouts, which has been regurgitated on an almost annual basis. (Journalists rarely check their sources!). Certainly, it is true that the base does exist, with building having begun around the year 2000, and that the US has used it at various times.

In spite of denials, there is a secret agreement between the US and Algeria which grants the US certain user rights, etc. At one time, about 400 US forces were in the region, with many of them being based temporarily at the base or transiting through it. It is also almost certainly true that a small number of US personnel are based there more or less permanently to man electronic listening and surveillance equipment.

El Watan , we believe, took the story from CE, which in turn dug up the figure of 400US troops from its archives and added them to a Special Report written earlier this week by UPI and published in several media on 23rd September. The very speculative UPI report states: “It is from there [the Tamanrasset base] that the French surveillance aircraft hunting the jihadists and their captives are probably operating.” That may be correct, although most reports have the French air search operating out of Niamey.

This story, of questionable accuracy, looks as if it might finally gain traction within Algeria and thus add to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's internal political problems, as the way the El Watan story is running suggests that he was the key architect in granting this 'secret facility' to the Americans. In the last 24 hours, the story has received wide coverage through Al Jazeera (Arabic) and possibly other Arab-language channels.

For more news and expert analysis about Algeria please see Algeria Focus and Algeria Politics & Security.

For more news and expert analysis about the Sahara region, please see Sahara Focus.

© 2010 Menas Associates