ALGERIAN POLICE CHIEF ASSASSINATED - NO TERRORISM

C O N F I D E N T I A L ALGIERS 000184 SIPDIS DEPT FOR NEA/MAG - NARDI E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/25/2020 TAGS: PGOV PINS AG SUBJECT: ALGERIAN POLICE CHIEF ASSASSINATED - NO TERRORISM LINK SEEN Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission William Jordan. Reasons: 1.4 ( b),(d) ¶1. (SBU) Colonel Ali Tounsi, Director General of the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) and Algeria's top police official, was assassinated in his office late in the morning of February 25. DGSN sources reported to RSO that a senior police member of Tounsi's staff pulled a gun at a staff meeting at DGSN headquarters earlier in the day, shot Tounsi in the head, and then shot himself in the mouth. Four other senior police officials, including the chief of police of Algiers, were wounded in the attack and have been hospitalized. ¶2. (U) A communique from the Minister of Interior and Territorial Collectivities issued the afternoon of February 25 says that a "demented" police official killed Tounsi at 10:45 local time, and then shot and seriously wounded himself. The communique extends the condolences of the Ministry to the victim's family, and praises Tounsi as a valiant "companion in arms" who had dedicated his life to the service of the country, the battle against terrorism, and the modernization of the DGSN during the last sixteen years. The statement calls on DGSN personnel to maintain the momentum and dynamic shown by Tounsi in the service of the Republic. ¶3. (SBU) Embassy local employees observed normal uniformed police presence on streets near the Embassy and in the west and south of Algiers mid-afternoon February 25. However, RSO sources in DGSN report general confusion at DGSN headquarters, as well as a blackout of all DGSN radio communication. ¶4. (SBU) RSO sources report the assassination grew from a dispute over a corruption investigation in DGSN and was not related to terrorism. These sources report the gunman was Ouldache Chouaib (64),a retired colonel who had been assigned as an Air Force supervisor in the DGSN. RSO sources in DGSN report that Chouaib was meeting with Tounsi where witnesses said they disagreed about penalties to be applied to Chouaib. The same sources report that Chouaib was rushed to a hospital unconscious after the shooting, but has not been confirmed dead. ¶5. (C) Comment: Embassy deems reports from RSO sources to be credible but cautions that all this information is preliminary and subject to further confirmation despite already extensive press reporting. We note that Tounsi has been locked in a reportedly heated dispute with his putative boss, Algerian Interior Minister Zerhouni, since last summer. That dispute centered on a number of internal investigations and a reputed effort by Zerhouni, who is politically close to Algerian President Bouteflika, to replace Tounsi with someone loyal to him. Such a conflict would play into the oft-rumored tug of war between Bouteflika and senior generals and intelligence officials who counted Tounsi as a loyal steward of their interests. Although DGSN was recently the one Algerian law enforcement agency that refused to cooperate with a visiting ATA-ICITAP delegation, we do not know if that stance was ordered by Tounsi, Zerhouni, or someone else. End comment. PEARCE