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Saïd Bouteflika (Template:Lang-ar, Berber: ⵙⵄⵉⴷ ⴰⵠⵓⵜⴼⵉⵇⴰ; born January, 1958) is an Algerian academic and politician.

He was an assistant professor at the Houari-Boumediene University of Science and Technology (USTHB). He is the brother and was a special adviser of Abdelaziz Bouteflika in his former role as President of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, on whom he would have had "considerable influence", especially after the president suffered a serious stroke in 2013.

On May 4, 2019, a month after his brother's resignation, in the context of the 2019 protests in Algeria, he was arrested and provisionally imprisoned in the military prison of Blida awaiting trial. On September 25, 2019, he was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for “undermining the authority of the army” and “conspiring against the authority of the state”.

Biography

Early life

Saïd Bouteflika was born in 1958 in Oujda in Morocco, which was then the base of Wilaya V (the military district in the Oran region), at the start of the rise of his brother Abdelaziz, then aged twenty, with Houari Boumédiène, who at the same time was the head of the wilaya. He is the youngest of nine siblings.

His father Ahmed died when he was a year old, so he was brought up by his mother (who ran a hammam), under the tutelage of his brother Abdelaziz, and thereby by Houari Boumedienne who took power through a coup d'état in 1965. He was a student at the Saint-Joseph College of the Brothers of Christian Schools, in El-Biar (Algiers), then at the high school run by the Jesuits, like some sons of leaders, before the final closure of these establishments.

Exile and return

A graduate of the National Polytechnic School of Algiers, he arrived in Paris in 1983 to prepare a doctorate in computer science. His brother, ousted from the estate of Boumédiène, joined him, accused of embezzlement. Saïd Bouteflika holds a postgraduate doctorate from Pierre-et-Marie-Curie University (Paris VI). His main center of interest is pattern recognition, a field in which he defends his thesis.

In 1987, the Bouteflikas were able to return to Algeria, and Saïd followed his brother back. He became a teacher and a university union activist. He married a biologist. In El Biar, he lived in a one floor house with his brother.

Special advisor

After his brother Abdelaziz was elected president in 1999, he was appointed special adviser by an unpublished decree; he officially takes care of the IT department. In this role, he removed other members of the cabinet like Ali Benflis or Larbi Belkheir; Saïd Bouteflika ousted the former in 2003 and the latter in 2005. He managed his brother's re-election campaigns in 2004 and 2008, and begins to be presented as a potential successor; he fails to be named vice-president.

In 2005, Abdelaziz Bouteflika was hospitalized in Paris with an ulcer, which forced him to step back from his duties. As a result, the role of Said grew. According to an inhabitant of El Mouradia interviewed by Jeune Afrique, “he keeps the agenda of the Head of State, intervenes in the appointments of ministers, diplomats, walis , heads of public bodies, and influences the internal life of the FLN. Having become essential to gain access to the president, the special adviser takes de facto management of affairs in El-Mouradia."

In 2008, he participated in the re-election of his brother, putting pressure on businessmen to finance the campaign, and made sure that public contracts were entrusted to relatives. An American cable from that year, released by Wikileaks, shows Bernard Bajolet indicating that "Corruption, which traces back to the brothers of Bouteflika , has reached a new peak and is interfering with economic development". Shortly afterwards, several corruption scandals broke out, where his name was mentioned, perhaps at the instigation of the Département du Renseignement et de la Sécurité.

In 2013, Abdelaziz Bouteflika was hospitalized in Val-de-Grâce, in Paris. For Jeune Afrique, Saïd Bouteflika remains alone at his brother's bedside, filtering access, giving instructions on the management of the crisis to Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal, who must wait 46 days to see the president. Le Matin even affirms that Saïd Bouteflika himself signed seven decrees of appointment in place of his brother, and that he blocks the other appointments. At the same time, he intervened in the crisis shaking the FLN in order to impose a relative as secretary general, then in the subsequent cabinet reshuffle. Journalist and former DRS captain Hichem Aboud, who revealed the seriousness of the president's condition, accused Saïd Bouteflika of "running the country by proxy", of having "been involved in many corruption cases" and for having persecuted him to silence him.

In October of the same year, rumors of succession between the brothers resumed, while the movements opposing him, the DRS and its leader, General Toufik, continued.. This political war is manifested in particular by a new attack by Hichem Aboud who accuses Saïd Bouteflika of massive corruption and drug trafficking, but also of homosexuality, which is illegal in Algeria.

Depleted and almost paralyzed, Abdelaziz Bouteflika finally ran for a fourth term in the Algerian presidential election in 2014 and won in the first round. Shortly after the election, while his brother was still barely visible, rumors of Saïd's desire to succeed him were once again emerging. In November, one of his relatives, the businessman Ali Haddad, is the only candidate for the head of the Forum of business leaders.

In September 2015, President Bouteflika put an end to the functions of General Toufik, a dismissal interpreted by the fact that the reality of power is in the hands of Saïd Bouteflika.

According to journalist Frédéric Pons, Saïd Bouteflika is preparing the succession of his brother by approaching the moderate Islamists with whom he seeks to give a broad popular base to the new team which will take over the country.

On June 3, 2017, Saïd Bouteflika surprised by coming to support the demonstrators who protest against the treatment given to Rachid Boudjedra by the Ennahar TV channel. He was booed and excluded from the demonstration.

According to Le Matin d'Algérie, in the summer of 2017, Saïd Bouteflika was in the best position to succeed his brother in 2019, but such an event would spark an uprising. The name of former minister Chakib Khelil is also cited.

References

1. Extrait de l'Agence de conservation foncière du cadastre et de la cartographie du Maroc
2. ^ Farid Alilat (8 5 2013). "Saïd Bouteflika : Mister mystère". jeuneafrique.com. Retrieved 21 October 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
3. ^ Mireille Duteil, « Saïd Bouteflika, l'énigme algérienne, Le Point, 28 mars 2014
4. Article (] | ] | ] | ] | ] |  |  | logs | views).
5. Résumé de la thèse de Saïd Bouteflika
6. Farid Alilat, Algérie : la diplomatie américaine s'intéresse au frère de Bouteflika », Dernières nouvelles d'Algérie Rue89, 05/09/2011
7. WikiLeaks. Les frères Bouteflika sont des "rapaces", Gaïd Salah "corrompu" et le Général Toufik qui sait tout sur algerie-focus.com
8. Marie Verdier, Mohammed Hachemaoui: "Le service de renseignement détient tous les leviers du pouvoir en Algérie", La Croix, 01/10/2013
9. Algérie : quand Saïd Bouteflika orchestre le silence présidentiel
10. Abubakr Diallo, Algérie : le frère de Bouteflika soupçonné de signer des décrets, Afrik.com, 08/06/2013
11. Farid Aillat, Algérie : Bouteflika forever..., JA.com, 07/10/2013
12. Fin d’un règne mouvementé et incertitudes sur l’avenir politique, challenge.ma, 27 septembre 2013
13. Alain Jourdan, «Saïd Bouteflika veut me faire taire. Il n’y arrivera pas», La Tribune de Genève, 19/09/2013
14. Kamel Daoud, « Comment l’Algérie a-t-elle pu devenir une monarchie ?, Algérie-Focus, 19/10/2013
15. Ihsane El Kadi, « Présidentielle : l’armée algérienne divisée, Bouteflika veut peser sur les choix, Algérie-Focus, 28/07/2013
16. Mohamed-Chérif Lachichi, « Le DRS avait prévenu Bouteflika, Liberté, 04/06/2013
17. Algérie. Une ambiance explosive, courrierinternational.com, 7/03/2014 issus de David Porter, counterpunch.org
18. Guerre politique en Algérie : Saïd Bouteflika répond à Hicham Aboud, afrik.com, 11 février 2014
19. Saïd F. pour Tamurt.info, « Saïd Bouteflika se prépare-t-il à succéder à son frère ? », 7 août 2014 et « Tout est fait pour oublier la maladie de Bouteflika », 5 août 2014
20. Kamel Daoud, « Guide de l’Algérie pour visiteur étranger : Discussion autour du cheval de l’Emir », 21 octobre 2014
21. Yacine Omar, « Ali Haddad : “Oui, je suis proche des responsables militaires et civils”, Algérie focus, 14 novembre 2014
22. Ali Titouche, Présidence du FCE : Ali Haddad boucle sa campagne », El Watan, 24 novembre 2014
23. AFP. "Bouteflika remercie Toufik, le puissant chef du renseignement algérien". www.lalibre.be. Retrieved 2015-09-13.
24. Algérie : "Monsieur Frère" et l'Odjak des janissaires, bernardlugan.blogspot.cz, 19 septembre 2015
25. Frédéric Pons, « L'inquiétant héritage de Bouteflika », Conflits, No. 13, janv.-mars 2017, p. 13-16
26. Mesbah Salim, « Le coup politique de Saïd Bouteflika », El Watan, 5 juin 2017
27. Ali Attar, « Algérie : Saïd Bouteflika exclu du rassemblement contre Ennahar TV » Afrik.com, 3 juin 2017
28. Ahcène Bettahar, « Se dirige-t-on droit vers le pire des scénarios en 2019 ? », Le Matin, 23 août 2017
29. Jean-Louis Tremblais, « Abdelaziz Bouteflika, un président en pointillé », Le Figaro Magazine, semaine du 1Template:Er décembre 2017, page 32.

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