The dismissal of Mohamed ‘Toufik’ Mediène as the head of Algeria’s intelligence service thrust a man (and a country) that the international press tends to skip over into the global headlines. But the curiosity and surprise about his sacking belies the fact that there were clear signs of his impending removal months before it occurred, and Algeria Politics & Security reported them.

5 July: The annual announcement of military promotions and dismissals sees two officers promoted to the rank of Général de Corps d’Armée (the equivalent of Lieutenant General, and the highest position in Algeria’s conventional rank structure): General Benali Benali (also known as Abdelkader Benali) and General Ahmed Boustila. The only two other men to hold the rank were Gaïd Salah, the Army Chief of Staff, and Mohamed ‘Toufik’ Mediène, the head of the DRS.

Algeria Politics & Security reports that ‘both men owe their promotions to their unquestioning loyalty to the president’ and points out the possibility that ‘Mediène could be sacked at any time, quite possibly at the end of the summer.’

16-17 July: Gunfire is reportedly heard within the presidential palace complex at Zeralda. Rumours emerge of a possible failed coup or assassination plot, among the possible explanations.
Algeria Politics & Security reports that the ‘more likely, and probably the most widely accepted explanation so far, is that it was a clash between officers of the Republican Guard and the DGSPP, with their generals being accused of not being properly in control of their men.’

23-25 July: Three senior generals are dismissed from their posts. This takes place outside of the annual army dismissal and promotion announcements, leading to suggestions that the Zeralda incident was the cause (or at least a pretext) for their removal.

The three generals who were dismissed were: General Djamel Kehal Medjdoub, head of the Direction générale de la sécurité et de la protection présidentielle (DGSPP) presidential security service; General Ahmed Moulay Meliani, head of the Republican Guard; and General Ali Bendaoud, head of the DRS’ Internal Security Directorate (DSI) and counterespionage service.

Algeria Politics & Security concludes that ‘The immediate outcome of these extraordinary events is that they have greatly strengthened the [President Abdelaziz] Bouteflika-Gaïd Salah clan, and both further weakened and humiliated General Mediène.’ It also mentions ‘Mediène’s former deputy General Athmane Tartag. As a security adviser to the presidency, it is inconceivable that the events of the last couple of weeks happened without Tartag knowing and, more likely, his fingerprints are all over them.’

7 August: Algeria Politics & Security comments on whether Mediène could seek revenge for the moves to undermine his influence: ‘We think this is unlikely because, quite apart from sealing his own fate at a late stage of his career and life, it would put his family in too great a danger…It is a threat, albeit perhaps not a likely one, that will always remain as long as Mediène is alive.’

14 August: Algeria Politics & Security explains that ‘the DRS has not been weakened as most analysts argue. Instead it is General Mediène who has been weakened, with the many service units of the DRS being transferred to the Ministry of Defence and the army high command.’ It speaks of ‘the construction of one single consolidated power structure around the three key elements: the Presidency, the army under Gaïd Salah, and the business community which is predominantly centred around the power and influence of Ali Haddad.’

27 August: The arrest of ‘General Hassan’ a recently-retired DRS commander whose real name is believed to be Abdelkader Aït Ouarabi, is reported. In its review, Algeria Politics & Security concludes: ‘We suggest that Bouteflika and Gaïd Salah may not have felt themselves in a strong enough position to move directly against Mediène himself until after the events of the last six weeks had consolidated their control over the security forces.’

13 September: The presidency announces the dismissal of Mohamed Mediène as the head of the DRS, and his replacement with General Athmane Tartag.

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