Mohamed Samraoui (born 1953) is a former member of the Algerian secret services ( Intelligence and Security Directorate, DRS) who wrote a book claiming that the DRS had been involved in torture and extralegal killings, and had manipulated the Armed Islamic Groups on a large scale to commit further massacres.

Biography

He joined the Algerian army in July 1974. After studying biochemistry and going through officer training, he became an instructor at a Military Security school (''Sécurité Militaire'' (SM), the army's secret service) at Beni-Messous, and rose through the SM's ranks, moving to various towns as his postings changed. From March 1990 to July 1992, he worked in

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

in the counterespionage bureau, as well as becoming part of the

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...

administration from 1991 on. In 1992, he asked to resign, but was not permitted to do so; instead, he accepted a posting to the Algerian embassy in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

as military attaché and advisor, eventually reaching the position of Lt. Colonel in the DRS. In 1995, he reports that he was asked by Smaine Lamari to assassinate two FIS leaders abroad, Abdelbaki Sahraoui and Rabah Kebir. On 12 February 1996, he left his post and sought political asylum in Germany. In 2003, he published a book, '' Chronique des années de sang'', attributing a variety of misdeeds, including the majority of the assassinations and massacres attributed to Islamists, to the Algerian secret services in the course of the Algerian Civil War. On 22 October 2007, Samraoui was arrested by Spanish police whilst attending a meeting in the town of Benalmádena in Southern

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It is believed that the arrest was in response to a request from

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...

that had come from the Algerian authorities. Samraoui is currently under conditional release in Spain awaiting the outcome of the

extradition In an extradition, one Jurisdiction (area), jurisdiction delivers a person Suspect, accused or Conviction, convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, into the custody of the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforc ...

request presented by the Algerian authorities. He was not allowed to return to his home and family in Germany whilst this request was being dealt with by the Spanish judicial system. However, in early December 2007 Samraoui decided to return to Germany claiming that he had been warned that he could be in danger if he remained in Spain. Samraoui is a

correspondence chess Correspondence chess is chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, traditionally through the postal system. Today it is usually played through a correspondence chess server, a public internet chess forum, or email. Less commo ...

player and received the

chess title A chess title is a title regulated by a chess governing body and bestowed upon players based on their performance and rank. Such titles are usually granted for life. The international chess governing body FIDE grants several titles, the most pres ...

of Senior International Correspondence Chess Master in 2003. He was the President of

International Correspondence Chess Federation International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) was founded on 26 March 1951 as a new appearance of the International Correspondence Chess Association (ICCA), which was founded in 1945, as successor of the Internationaler Fernschachbund (IF ...

from 2005-2008.

Notes

References

Lutte des clans : Un témoignage du colonel Samraoui intéresse BouteflikaRachad - Samraoui, MohamedPhoney war on terrorChroniques des années de sang
(his book)
Tamazgha: Mohammed Samraoui : "Chronique d’un repenti, fonctionnaire du crime"
* * ttp://www.publico.es/internacional/022174/en/espana/pisoteado/derechos/refugiado/politico El Público: "En España se han pisoteado mis derechos como refugiado político"br>El Público: "El disidente argelino, Samraoui, huye sin permiso del juez"

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Samraoui, Mohamed 1953 births Living people Algerian activists Algerian intelligence agency personnel 21st-century Algerian people