Settling Of Scores Behind Murders Of Algerians In France

Official sources at the Algerian Consulate in Marseille said that the cause of the killings of Algerians in a number of French cities was related to “settling accounts” and that another Algerian victim, whose file is now under judicial perusal, was assassinated in April 2017.

The sources confirmed in statements quoted by the APS, the authenticity of the slaying of 10 Algerian victims and that this number also includes a victim from Tunisia and two French victims, “explaining that in-depth investigations into these assassinations” are still ongoing”.

This is the first official comment on the “mysterious” killings that have claimed the lives of several Algerians in the past two months, all of them hailing from the city of Khenchela (eastern Algeria), and these killings were perpetrated, according to media sources in “professional manner”, thus touching off the indignation and dismay of the members of the Algerian community settled in the southern French city of Marseilles.

“The Algerian Embassy in France and the General Consulate in Marseilles are following the course of these heinous assassinations, and they are in daily and direct contact with the French local authorities while waiting for the results of the relevant investigations in France and in Algeria,” Algerian Ambassador to France Abdelkader Messaâda said in a written statement. 

“We got in touch with the French security and judicial services, and we met with the city officials who  pledged to provide us with relevant information as soon as they are available”, he further underlined.

In another context, the Algerian Consular authorities in Marseille visited several Algerian prisoners now held in four prisons in the Marseille region to inquire about their status in order to straighten out their administrative situation.

“In January, we visited several Algerian prisoners held in the Aix-Léans and Baumette prisons (Marseilles) and the two detention centers of Dubrovans and Tarascon to look into their cases and to know their complaints,” Consul General Boudjemaa Rouibeh indicated.

“The total number of Algerians jailed for various offenses is estimated at 375, of whom 165 are women. The General Consulate has counted about 60 Algerian sick inmates in these prisons,” he added.