Algeria has brought new accusations against France against opposition YouTuber Amir Boukhras, who resides on its territory as a political refugee, against the backdrop of an attempt attributed to a senior official in the French Ministry of the Interior to attract sympathizers with him in Algeria. “With the aim of harming the country’s stability.”
On Saturday evening, Algerian public television broadcast a documentary produced by the Ministry of Defense, containing the results of investigations conducted by the Army Security Service regarding the large fires that struck areas in the east of the country this summer, leaving dozens dead and massive property destruction.
The documentary directly accuses Amir Boukhras, known as “Amir De Zad,” of being behind the setting of fires by two young men whom he hired for this purpose, in exchange for temptations and promises to pay money, according to what was stated in this work, which was titled: “Exposing the machinations of treason and the threads of employment.”
In the documentary, the two young men provide their testimony about their dealings with the forty-year-old YouTuber. One of them confirmed that he had been in contact with Amir; “He told me that a high-ranking employee in the French Ministry of the Interior would contact me, which is what actually happened. This official called me and addressed me in English. Because he knew that I did not understand French.”
According to the young man himself, who comes from a governorate in the east of the country, the French official asked him if he wanted to establish a party in his country “with a communist orientation,” and he offered me help in establishing it, and promised me financial support and everything I needed, in addition to facilitating all necessary procedures. He also promised me to finance the purchase of a house for me in Annaba (eastern Algeria) and a luxury car, stressing that everything would be at my disposal there, adding that I would live a comfortable life, as he put it: (Good life).
The young man, who appears to be thirty years old, also confirmed that the French official asked him to “work to mobilize all those who sympathize with (Amir De Zad) in Algeria,” without explaining the purpose of this step, but it is understood from the documentary directed specifically against the YouTuber, that the supposed project “was aimed at striking the stability of the country.”
These statements appear to be new official accusations directed at France regarding “hiring agents with the aim of undermining the stability of the country,” at a time when Algerian-French relations are still in the dark tunnel they entered in the summer of 2024 following the Elysee Palace’s announcement of its recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara.
For the first time, the Algerian authorities accuse a specific body in France, the Ministry of the Interior, of “employing” the controversial YouTuber in order to destabilize the country. It also directly accuses him of being responsible for the summer fires.
The statements of the second young man, called Abdel Karim Boutamina, were in the same direction, as he was also in contact with Boukhras, quoting a pivotal phrase from him: “What can you do in Constantine?” It is believed that this question was an explicit incitement to verify his readiness to burn vegetation in the state located in the east of the country, which was previously engulfed by fires last summer.
Based on the two young men’s confessions of the crime of intentionally setting fire, they exposed themselves to the death penalty after the freeze on it was lifted in accordance with amendments introduced by the government to the Penal Code and voted on by Parliament at the beginning of this month.
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According to an official statement by Egyptian presidential spokesman Mohamed El-Shenawy, President Sisi chaired, on Sunday, at the Federal Presidential Palace, a meeting of the National Defense Council, which “reviewed the overall current regional developments and the dangerous developments the region is witnessing, especially in light of the escalation of unacceptable attacks against the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
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