Algerian police have arrested Said Bouteflika, the youngest brother of former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, and two former intelligence chiefs, Generals Bachir Athmane Tartag and Mohamed Mediene, security sources said on Saturday, Trend reports citing Reuters.
No more details were available, and there was no immediate comment from police. The sources were confirming an earlier report from Ennahar TV.
Said Bouteflika, who served as a top advisor to the presidency for more than a decade, acted as Algeria’s de facto ruler after his brother suffered a stroke in 2013 which left him in a wheelchair.
Massive ongoing protests calling for a radical change to Bouteflika’s regime pushed the ailing president to resign on April 2, but demonstrators continue to demand the removal of all those linked the former administration.
“The arrest of Said is definitely the peak in the dismantling of Bouteflika’s system,” a top political source told Reuters on Saturday.
Army chief of staff Ahmed Gaed Salah has promised to rid the country of corrupt politicians, oligarchs and military officials in order to restore confidence among the people.
Last month Salah accused a former intelligence chief of trying to undermine the transition, in a clear reference to Mediene, dubbed “Algeria’s God” because many saw him as the country’s real authority.
“I send to this person a final warning,” Salah said at that time.