Silent over his death, did Algeria help France eliminate the head of Aqmi?

The new Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmadjid Tebboune before his appointment on April 3, 2017 in Algiers. REUTERS / Ramzi Boudina

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Since his death announced on Friday June 5 by France, Algeria has remained silent. If during the weekend, most of the headlines of the Algerian press echoed the disappearance of the emir of Algerian origin, hitherto hidden in Kabylia, the official media did not mention the information. What role could Algeria play in eliminating the emir of Aqmi?

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The command of the United States for Africa confirms the death of the emir of Aqmi Abdelmalek Droukdel "  by an independent evaluation  ". This is what is stated in the French press release published by Africom on Monday, a text which also confirms American support for the French military operation via intelligence.

On the Algerian side, however, " nothing, not even a laconic message ," notes a Sahelian minister very surprised at the silence of Algiers. Another official from the sub-region spoke of a surely very diplomatic silence: “  We cannot ask President Tebboune to congratulate himself on a French military operation.  "

What is certain is that the death of the leader of Aqmi is certainly not a non-event for Algiers. According to one of our interlocutors, "  the Algerians could not be unaware of a movement of Droukdel so far from his fief  ". In other words, he explains, if France was able to act it was because the Algerians allowed it. Understand: the changes to the head of the army staff and to the intelligence department would have made Abdelmalek Droukdel lose a form of protection in recent months.

Algiers may even have gone further. According to several observers, it is indeed a triangular cooperation: Algeria, United States, France which could be at the origin of the operation. A security source even ensures that it is the Algerian special forces of Bordj Mokhtar at the border, who would have monitored the convoy of the terrorist leader and then informed the CIA based in Tamanrasset, before handing over to the French force Barkhane. Information not confirmed at this stage.

Was the operation against Abdelmalek Droukdel at the heart of the meeting between the Algerian president and his French counterpart the day before the operation or his meeting this Monday with the United States ambassador? Not surprisingly, nothing has filtered…

► Listen again: could the death of the head of Aqmi hasten the conflict with the Islamic State?

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  • Algeria
  • Mali
  • Terrorism
  • France
  • AQIM

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