National Police Chief Ali Tounsi assassinated in Algiers

The chief of Algeria’s national police Ali Tounsi was shot dead in his office in Algiers Thursday by the head of the police’s aviation hardware unit.

• Witnesses said the killer is a 64 year-old retired colonel in the Popular National Army named Oueldtache Choaib. Hr was employed by the DGSN as the head of the police’s helicopters unit. He asked to meet with the victim before a meeting which was expected to be held in his office about the killer’s wrongdoings.
• Sources said the murderer attempted to kill himself with his gun after assassinating Ali Tounsi. He is now in a coma in the hospital of Ain Naadja in Algiers. The victim’s body was taken to El Biar area where the DGSN’s offices are based.    
• A judicial enquiry is underway to determine the circumstances of this tragic event, an official statement from the Interior Ministry said. 
• Sources said that an investigation recently ordered by Ali Tounsi into contracts signed with suppliers of helicopter spare parts and computer equipment had revealed the involvement of the murderer in “shady transactions”. 
• The murderer did not accept the findings of this investigation and refused to be submitted to any administrative sanctions or to face legal proceedings.  Sources told Echorouk that he did his heinous act by opening gunfire five times on Ali Tounsi in the latter’s office after hearing that he was about to be sacked from his post. 
• In a press release issued Thursday, the Minister of the Interior and local Assemblies, Nourredine Yazid Zerhouni, expressed utter dismay and sadness at the tragic loss of Ali Tounsi. 
• Mr. Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni brought into focus the patriotism of Ali Tounsi, “the comrade in arms and the valourous executive”.
• Late Ali Tounsi devoted all his life to the service of the Algerian nation, to the sustained struggle against terrorism over the past 16 years, as well as to the modernization of the national police forces, Mr. Yazid Zerhouni added in the communiqué. 
• The funeral of late Ali Tounsi is to be held Friday February 26th after the midday prayers in an Algiers cemetery.