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Ex-Algerian Minister Gets 20 Years' Jail


FILE: Algerian ex-minister Chakib Khelil at the Convention Centre Oran (CCO). Taken April 19, 2010.
FILE: Algerian ex-minister Chakib Khelil at the Convention Centre Oran (CCO). Taken April 19, 2010.

A former Algerian energy minister was sentenced in absentia Thursday to 20 years in prison for corruption, the latest ruling against a top ally of late president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, local media reported.

Algeria's judiciary has pursued various graft allegations against the 82-year-old since 2013, with another 20-year jail term already upheld last June for a separate case.

Chakib Khelil headed the energy ministry of Africa's top gas exporter for a decade under President Bouteflika, who stepped down in 2019 following mass protests against his 20-year rule.

The court also confirmed an international arrest warrant against Khelil, who quit his post in 2010 and moved to the United States after being implicated in a scandal involving high-ranking Sonatrach officials who were later jailed for corruption.

In 2013, the North African country issued an international arrest warrant for Khelil over a case involving contracts between Sonatrach and foreign companies, including Saipem, a former subsidiary of Italian energy giant Eni.

He returned to Algeria in 2016 after the charges were dropped, only to flee again after Bouteflika's 2019 resignation, which sparked a string of investigations into official corruption during his time in power.

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