Khelil should have appeared in court ten years ago, says Workers’ Party

The Algerian Workers’ Party hailed the Algiers Public Prosecutor’s decision to order an international arrest warrant for the former energy minister Chakib Khelil and his family, saying this is a “considerable political progress in the fight against corruption.”

The Workers’ Party believes that the warrant came late while there are “legal hindrances as the most important suspect is living abroad.”

Khelil “should have appeared in court ten years ago for betraying Algeria when he tried to privatize Sonatrach,” said the party in a release issued on Sunday.

Speaking about the hydrocarbons law 2005, the release said it was “prepared in the US.”

The party criticized “weird remarks which aim at hindering the Algerian justice” and called for judging every official involved in spoiling Algeria’s national economy.