Algerian chief of staff Gen Ahmed Gaid Salah presides over a military parade in Algiers, Algeria. AP
Algerian chief of staff Gen Ahmed Gaid Salah presides over a military parade in Algiers, Algeria. AP

Algerian generals are being fired without explanation



Heads have been rolling in the Algerian army, the North African nation's most respected institution. Top generals are being fired – without explanation – at a rate never seen before.

Since late June, nearly all the security hierarchy's top officials have been replaced. The changes are especially dramatic in a country with the best-equipped military in North Africa which has spent 25 years fighting extremists. Today, Algeria is a bulwark against extremism for the West.

Yet the noisy Algerian press, which habitually decodes the country's often-inscrutable politics, has been unable to decipher the reason for this wholesale clear-out.

Is a scandal surrounding a major cocaine seizure the reason for at least some of the firings, or is it about traditional rivalries among powerful clans? Or are they linked to changes connected to next April's presidential election, which itself is the subject of another mystery – who is running? No candidate has yet declared because everyone is waiting to learn whether President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, 81, partially paralysed and rarely seen in public, will seek a fifth term.

Such changes in the military hierarchy, only some of which have been announced publicly, are the prerogative of the president, who is also minister of defence. But the influence of the army is a perennial mystery.

The wave of changes began with the June 26 firing of Gen. Abdelghani Hamel, a powerful police chief. Along with Hamel went the men he had placed in more than six top regional police posts from Algiers, the capital, to Setif, in the east – as well as the commander in charge of Algiers' international airport.

The latest to be axed were two senior air force figures.

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The removal of Hamel, who had held the top police post since 2010, may – or may not – be linked to May's seizure of 701 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a cargo ship from Brazil and Hamel's harsh words for gendarmes investigating the find.

However, eight days after Hamel's firing, it was gendarmerie chief Maj Gen Menad Nouba who lost his job.

The sword then fell on the top brass of the army, the backbone of the Algerian state. Region by region, top leaders were removed. Only one of the six military districts has been left untouched.

"No one is indispensable," said political sociologist Nasser Djabi, "even the all-powerful". He recalled the removal in 2015 of one of Algeria's most powerful figures, intelligence chief Gen Mediene, known as Toufik, after 25 years on the job. "If you ask me who profited from these changes, what is the balance of power ... I'm unable to say. It's very opaque."

Ahmed Gaid Salah, army chief of staff since 2004 and vice defence minister – among Bouteflika's most faithful servants – oversaw ceremonial changes in the regional commands, at one point saying they were dictated by "competence" and "merit".

The army magazine El Djeich last week reported that the new appointments "embody the principle of alternating posts of responsibility" and "are an opportunity to encourage human capacities, reward experience and push (new chiefs) to redouble their efforts in the service of our army".

The army, which grew out of the fighting force that won Algeria's independence from France in 1962, was long seen as the kingmaker in presidential elections. Only Bouteflika – in office since 1999 – and the country's short-lived first elected head of state were civilians.

However, army chief Gaid Salah in July cast aside any notion of an army role in politics. Responding to an opposition suggestion that the military lead a transition period and delay presidential elections, Gaid Salah said: "The National Popular Army is an army that knows its limits."

The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl, 48V hybrid

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Power: 325bhp

Torque: 450Nm

Price: Dh359,000

On sale: now 

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THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick

Hometown: Cologne, Germany

Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)

Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes

Favourite hobby: Football

Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk

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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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Company%20profile
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Specs

Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request

The White Lotus: Season three

Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

While you're here
Quick pearls of wisdom

Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”

Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.” 

Married Malala

Malala Yousafzai is enjoying married life, her father said.

The 24-year-old married Pakistan cricket executive Asser Malik last year in a small ceremony in the UK.

Ziauddin Yousafzai told The National his daughter was ‘very happy’ with her husband.

Essentials

The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Delhi from about Dh950 return including taxes.
The hotels
Double rooms at Tijara Fort-Palace cost from 6,670 rupees (Dh377), including breakfast.
Doubles at Fort Bishangarh cost from 29,030 rupees (Dh1,641), including breakfast. Doubles at Narendra Bhawan cost from 15,360 rupees (Dh869). Doubles at Chanoud Garh cost from 19,840 rupees (Dh1,122), full board. Doubles at Fort Begu cost from 10,000 rupees (Dh565), including breakfast.
The tours 
Amar Grover travelled with Wild Frontiers. A tailor-made, nine-day itinerary via New Delhi, with one night in Tijara and two nights in each of the remaining properties, including car/driver, costs from £1,445 (Dh6,968) per person.

The specs

Engine: 8.0-litre, quad-turbo 16-cylinder

Transmission: 7-speed auto

0-100kmh 2.3 seconds

0-200kmh 5.5 seconds

0-300kmh 11.6 seconds

Power: 1500hp

Torque: 1600Nm

Price: Dh13,400,000

On sale: now

The National Archives, Abu Dhabi

Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.

Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en

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COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Day 5, Dubai Test: At a glance

Moment of the day Given the problems Sri Lanka have had in recent times, it was apt the winning catch was taken by Dinesh Chandimal. He is one of seven different captains Sri Lanka have had in just the past two years. He leads in understated fashion, but by example. His century in the first innings of this series set the shock win in motion.

Stat of the day This was the ninth Test Pakistan have lost in their past 11 matches, a run that started when they lost the final match of their three-Test series against West Indies in Sharjah last year. They have not drawn a match in almost two years and 19 matches, since they were held by England at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi in 2015.

The verdict Mickey Arthur basically acknowledged he had erred by basing Pakistan’s gameplan around three seam bowlers and asking for pitches with plenty of grass in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. Why would Pakistan want to change the method that has treated them so well on these grounds in the past 10 years? It is unlikely Misbah-ul-Haq would have made the same mistake.

Skewed figures

In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.