VZCZCXYZ0001
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAS #0184 0561524
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 251524Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY ALGIERS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8503
INFO RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUCNMGH/MAGHREB COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L ALGIERS 000184 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/MAG - NARDI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/25/2020 
TAGS: PGOV PINS AG
SUBJECT: ALGERIAN POLICE CHIEF ASSASSINATED - NO TERRORISM 
LINK SEEN 
 
Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission William Jordan.  Reasons:  1.4 ( 
b), (d) 
 
¶1. (SBU) Colonel Ali Tounsi, Director General of the General 
Directorate of National Security (DGSN) and Algeria's top 
police official, was assassinated in his office late in the 
morning of February 25.  DGSN sources reported to RSO that a 
senior police member of Tounsi's staff pulled a gun at a 
staff meeting at DGSN headquarters earlier in the day, shot 
Tounsi in the head, and then shot himself in the mouth.  Four 
other senior police officials, including the chief of police 
of Algiers, were wounded in the attack and have been 
hospitalized. 
 
¶2. (U) A communique from the Minister of Interior and 
Territorial Collectivities issued the afternoon of February 
25 says that a "demented" police official killed Tounsi at 
10:45 local time, and then shot and seriously wounded 
himself.  The communique extends the condolences of the 
Ministry to the victim's family, and praises Tounsi as a 
valiant "companion in arms" who had dedicated his life to the 
service of the country, the battle against terrorism, and the 
modernization of the DGSN during the last sixteen years.  The 
statement calls on DGSN personnel to maintain the momentum 
and dynamic shown by Tounsi in the service of the Republic. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Embassy local employees observed normal uniformed 
police presence on streets near the Embassy and in the west 
and south of Algiers mid-afternoon February 25.  However, RSO 
sources in DGSN report general confusion at DGSN 
headquarters, as well as a blackout of all DGSN radio 
communication. 
 
¶4. (SBU) RSO sources report the assassination grew from a 
dispute over a corruption investigation in DGSN and was not 
related to terrorism.  These sources report the gunman was 
Ouldache Chouaib (64), a retired colonel who had been 
assigned as an Air Force supervisor in the DGSN.  RSO sources 
in DGSN report that Chouaib was meeting with Tounsi where 
witnesses said they disagreed about penalties to be applied 
to Chouaib.  The same sources report that Chouaib was rushed 
to a hospital unconscious after the shooting, but has not 
been confirmed dead. 
 
¶5. (C) Comment:  Embassy deems reports from RSO sources to be 
credible but cautions that all this information is 
preliminary and subject to further confirmation despite 
already extensive press reporting.  We note that Tounsi has 
been locked in a reportedly heated dispute with his putative 
boss, Algerian Interior Minister Zerhouni, since last summer. 
 That dispute centered on a number of internal investigations 
and a reputed effort by Zerhouni, who is politically close to 
Algerian President Bouteflika, to replace Tounsi with someone 
loyal to him.  Such a conflict would play into the 
oft-rumored tug of war between Bouteflika and senior generals 
and intelligence officials who counted Tounsi as a loyal 
steward of their interests.  Although DGSN was recently the 
one Algerian law enforcement agency that refused to cooperate 
with a visiting ATA-ICITAP delegation, we do not know if that 
stance was ordered by Tounsi, Zerhouni, or someone else.  End 
comment. 
PEARCE