Algeria arguably ranks among top authoritarian states adamant on keeping the international media away. Requests for visas by leading Western media, including the BBC and the New York Times, go unanswered for years.
By Redouane Benmehdi – A recent analysis from investigative site AlgeriePart has caught our attention in that it unveiled who really controls power in Algeria. It turns out, according to AlgeriePart, the current Chief of Staff of the Algerian Army, officially nominated by the president as the head of the military on 5 July 2020, has now become Algeria’s strongman and top decision maker, even surpassing President Tebboune. After leading a transition as Interim Leader of the military following the death in December 2019 of army chief General Gaid Salah, General Said Chengriha struggled for months to ascertain his leadership, given the deep divisions within the defense establishment dominated by deeply entrenched clans. But over the months, Said Chengriha focused his attention on diminishing the powers of both the established clans of senior officers and the deeply influential intelligence agencies, reshaping the entire leadership of the country’s defense establishment with the ap