Mohamed Mediène

General Mohamed Mediène (Arabic: الجنرال محمد مدين‎), also known as Toufik (توفيق), was head of the Algerian secret services, the Intelligence and Security Department (Département du renseignement et de la sécurité, DRS), from 1990 to 2015. He was described as the world's longest serving "intelligence chief".[1]

Mohamed Mediène
Birth nameMohammed Mediène
Born (1939-05-14) 14 May 1939
Guenzet, Algeria
Allegiance Algeria
Service/branchAlgerian People's Army
Years of service1960 - 2014
RankGénéral de corps d'armée

He was born in 1939 to a Kabyle family from Guenzet (Sétif Province), but grew up near Algiers at Saint-Eugene (Bologhine). He joined the National Liberation Army in 1961, a few months before Algeria's independence. He was an officer for the NLA.[2]

Little is known of him, but he was regarded as a leading power behind the scenes and a leading general in the "eradicator" military faction. Only two known public photos of him exist; they are both unclear.[2][3]

Career

Post-independence

Shortly after independence, he joined other NLA military members in studying at a KGB school in the Soviet Union. He was then posted to the 2nd military region (around Oran, bordering Morocco), then commanded by future President Chadli Bendjedid, where he established ties with Larbi Belkheir. In 1983, he was posted to Tripoli as military attaché. Soon after returning, he became head of presidential security for Bendjedid.[4]

He later became head of army security in the Sécurité Militaire, led at the time by Mohamed Betchine. After Betchine's departure in 1987, Mediene was appointed general and a temporary chief of the intelligence organization.[2] Soon after taking charge, he oversaw a reorganization of the Sécurité Militaire, and renamed it the Département du renseignement et de la sécurité (DRS).

After the 1991 election

At the time of the 1991 legislative election, which was won by the Islamic Salvation Front, Mediene joined a group of ruling generals in Les éradicateurs ("the Eradicator") faction. This name derives from the goal of eradicating the Islamists, as opposed to negotiating with them. This group is regarded as behind the military coup that followed the election's first round. The Eradicator faction is regarded to have gained and held power during the civil war triggered by the military coup.[2] Since the 1992 coup, a "shadowy" group of generals and intelligence officers known to the Algerians collectively as le pouvoir (“the power”) and whose individual members are called décideurs has dominated Algerian politics with the FLN reduced down to a mere front for le pouvoir.[5] Little is known for certain about le pouvoir, but Mediene has frequently been mentioned as a leading décideur.[5] Officially, the languages of Algeria are Arabic and Berber, but in practice, most Algerians speak a language called Darija that is a mixture of Arabic, Berber and French, which explains why French expressions are often used in Algeria.[6] Arabic has been the official language of Algeria since 1962, but French remains the language of power in Algeria and cabinet meetings are conducted in French, the language of the Algerian elite, who often struggle with Arabic.[6]

During the civil war, the DRS, led by Mediene, headed efforts to repress Islamist groups. DRS agents, which reportedly number as high as 100,000, infiltrated and manipulated terrorist groups, and stopped efforts in both ruling and opposition groups to negotiate with the ISF.[2] In 1993, he was promoted to general-major, and in July 2006, he was promoted to Lieutenant General (Général de corps d'armée.)

Although he supported President Abdelaziz Bouteflika as part of the Eradicator faction, Mediene through the DRS was later believed to be involved in a power struggle with Bouteflika. After supporting Bouteflika's first three terms, he did not support his fourth term bid, announced in January 2014.[7] Preceding this, Ahmed Gaid Salah, the Deputy Minister of Defense, accused the DRS of complacency in failing to prevent the In Amenas hostage crisis. And in September 2013, the DRS was reorganised to bring more of it under state control. In February 2014, the secretary general of Bouteflika's party, the FLN, accused the DRS of infiltrating and destabilizing several political parties.[8]

Through the DRS' networks, Mediène was believed to hold significant power in Algeria's media, business lobbies, army, and different political parties.[4] The Economist wrote in 2012 that "The most powerful man in the land may be Mohamed Mediène, known as Toufiq...".[5] In 2013 The Economist reported: "Despite his leading role in defeating Islamic militants in a brutal civil war between 1991 and 2000, and his less public role as kingmaker in the pouvoir, General Mediene’s face remains unknown; it is said that anyone who has seen it expires soon after."[9] A popular rumor in Algeria that cannot be verified has it that Mediène "always receives people in his office with his back turned - if you see his face, this is the last time you see someone in your life."[3] Regardless if this rumor is true or not, the popularity of this rumor says much about Mediène's reputation in Algeria, a man widely viewed as the "Darth Vader" of Algerian politics.[3] A popular game in Algeria is attempting to identify Mediène by examining photographs from the 1980s and 1990s of official functions to see if he can be found.[3]

On 13 September 2015, it was announced that Mediène was retiring and President Bouteflika had appointed Athmane Tartag to succeed him.[10] Mediène's dismissal was viewed as the culmination of a long "behind-the-scenes power struggle" with Bouteflika, leaving the latter fully in charge and giving him more power to determine his own successor.[11]

References
  1. Keenan, Jeremy (29 September 2010). "General Toufik: 'God of Algeria'". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  2. Duteil, Mireille (14 April 2014). "Mohamed Mediène, l'homme le plus mystérieux d'Algérie". Le Point. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  3. Mansour, Baki. "Algeria's Darth Vader". Free Arabs. Archived from the original on 30 July 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2015.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. "Algeria Interface: Mohamed Mediene". Archived from the original on November 14, 2004. Retrieved 2004-11-14.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. "Still Waiting for Real Democracy". The Economist. 12 May 2012. Retrieved 2016-11-04.
  6. "A battle over language is hampering Algeria's development". The Economist. 17 August 2017. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  7. Duteil, Mireille (6 March 2014). "Algérie : le temps des généraux est terminé". Le Point. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  8. "Saidani:"Toufiq est responsable des fiasco sécuritaires, celui de Tibhirine, Tiguentourine etc."". AlJazeera. 3 February 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  9. "The dead live longer". The Economist. 21 September 2013. Retrieved 2016-11-04.
  10. "Algeria removes top intel chief after years in powerful post", Associated Press, 13 September 2015.
  11. Amer Ouali, "Algeria president paving way for succession", Agence France-Presse, 14 September 2015.
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