Algeria Update: Military Makes Arrests, what does it mean?

What is currently going on in Algeria? According to Reuters, there are still protests but . . .

The demonstration was peaceful but smaller than those that have shaken Algiers over the past weeks.

There have been a number of arrests amount the political and business elites. Interestingly, Reuters and Fox News interpret the developments differently.

Reuters interprets these arrests as the military trying to gain support among the protestors by detaining those suspected of corruption:

Last week, Bouteflika’s youngest brother, Said, and two former intelligence chiefs were placed in custody by a military judge over “harming the army’s authority and plotting against state authority”. At least five businessmen, including the country’s richest man, Issad Rebrab, who is active in food industry and sugar refining, have been detained for alleged involvement in corruption scandals.



 Fox News views these arrests as the military attempting to stop political opposition:

The influential brother of former Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and two generals once in charge of intelligence have been jailed while under investigation for plotting against the state, a military tribunal said Sunday. A statement from the tribunal in Blida, south of Algiers, said the prosecutor appointed a judge to investigate the ex-president's young brother Said Bouteflika and generals Mohamed Mediene, known as Toufik, and Athmane Tartag. They are being investigated for "plotting against the authority of the state" and "attacking the authority of the army," the statement said. The three men were key figures during the era of Bouteflika, who resigned April 2 under pressure from the army and weeks of street protests after two decades in power.

Fox News also had this:

An Algerian military court has detained a prominent left-wing politician as it investigates an alleged plot against the country's leadership. A statement from the Workers Party says its general secretary Louisa Hanoune was ordered held in custody Thursday at the military court in Blida. 

Is Reuters right or Fox News? It is possible that both are correct. They might be attempting to appease the protestors, but at the same time trying to consolidate their power.

Brookings has an article up about one of those men arrested: General Mohamed Mediene who is known as the Butcher of Algier:

Mediène was the longest-serving intelligence chief in the world when he was sacked by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in 2015 . . . Since the start of the popular demonstrations in Algeria this year, Mediène apparently plotted a comeback. The head of the Algerian army General Ahmed Gaid Salah accused him of plotting against Algeria. 

Brookings also seems to indicate that this might be the military attempted to take out potential rivals though the article also ends by saying Mediene might be used as a "scapegoat for the crimes of many others," which to me implies that this might have also been done as an olive branch to the protestors.

Finally, The New York Times has an article up about a historical neighborhood of the capital called Casbah. The Casbah dates back all the way to the Ottoman Empire and the 10th century. It is an interesting read.