Algeria’s Tebboune sacks director of national security

Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune yesterday dismissed the Director-General of National Security, Khalifa Ounissi, who was replaced by Farid Zainuddin Bin Sheikh.

The Ministry of the Interior made the announcement but gave no reasons for the decision.

Ounissi was appointed as head the General Directorate of National Security in Algeria, known locally as the national police, in August 2019. His assignment to the post came amid the popular uprising that erupted on 22 February 2019 against the regime of former president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

Bin Sheikh, who is a senior official of the Algerian police, previously held the position of inspector-general of the central district, which includes the Algerian capital.

The decision to dismiss Ounissi has come within the framework of a package of changes in various branches of the military and security institutions made by President Tebboune after he took office on 12 December 2019.

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