Algeria Confirms Arrest of Former Counter-terror Chief

Algeria confirmed Saturday the arrest of the former head of counter-terrorism, whose detention was reported by the media last month.

"The case of General Hassan is now before the judiciary," Ahmed Ouyahia, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's chief of staff, told a news conference, without giving further details.

Abdelkader Ait-Ouarabi, better known as General Hassan, had been the head of Algeria's infamous DRS intelligence agency and embodied the army's fight against Islamist groups for two decades.

He was forcibly retired at the orders of a military judge at the end of 2013 and had been under surveillance.

News of his arrest was revealed at the end of August by the newspaper El-Watan, which said he was detained at his home and then taken to the Blida military prison south of Algiers.

Allegations against him include possessing firearms, withholding information and insubordination, El-Watan quoted judicial sources as saying.