Ahmed Mansouri
On 21 March 2021, the Algerian regime issued an international arrest warrant on Mohamed Abdellah and four other Algerian political activists, on terrorism among other charges.
The whole matter is based on a fraud case which Mohamed Abdellah palyed an essential role in catching the fraudster Ahmed Mansouri and provided both the victims (Noura Merahi, Souhila Merahi and the Algerian authorities with direct intelligence to arrest and prosecute him. However, due the fact that the Mansouri is highly connected to a faction of the secret services in Algeria; the Algerian secret services used the information provided by Abdellah, they colluded with their agent Mansouri to weaving a tale in which they framed as terrorists Mohamed Abdellah and four other activists.
From the victims witness accounts, their police statements and audio recordings kept by Mohamed Abdellah (we have all the evidence); Ahmed Mansouri appeared to be active since the mid-nineties; he is said to be a repentant terrorist, who was “pardoned” from a death penalty sentence. This process is understood to be an indication of him being a in intelligence-recruit. He then converts to a maverick businessman, allegedly travelling on many passport including Turkish, Spanish, and Algerian passport including one with fake identity.
Using his proven connections with the Algerian regime, he lured Merahi, her husband and her sister to believe that he was credible assistance to them in order own property and a car after their urgent return to Algeria during the coronavirus lockdown.
Ahmed Mansouri proved to his victims that he was a high court judge, boasted with with image and video evidence that he was well connected within the regime circles including one showing him attending a ceremony along late army chief of staff General Ahmed Gaid Salah.
He was also using this as a convincing piece when he tried to contact some Algerian activist abroad, including Mohamed Abdellah, with who he established contact with and was leaking fake inside information to him, but Abdellah was not duped. Mohamed Abdellah came to know about the plight of Merahi family and Mansouri role in it.
At that time, Mansouri has already scammed the Merahis to hand him about $100K without delivering any of the agreed services they trusted he was going to facilitate.
Since Mansouri delivered nothing to them and kept the money, they started looking for any option to recover it. Since Mansouri once lied to them that beside his links to the regime, he was also connected to famous Algerian activists abroad such as Mohamed Larbi Zitout, Amir Dz, Hichem Abboud, Mohamed Benhalima and, Mohamed Abdellah.
Noura Merahi took her case to the police, but since she got no robust follow up, she reached Zitout and Abdellah. Abdellah was already in contact with Mansouri. To cut long story short, Mohamed Abdellah became aware of the Merahi’s case details and was convinced they were victims since they provided him with beyond doubt evidence.
Mohamed Abdellah stepped in to help them, he recorded every step and left it as evidence.
He confronted Mansour and gave him an ultimatum to retrun the money of the victim. Mansouri acknowledged his role in the fraud on recorded messages but failed to act on time, Mohamed Abdellah moved to inform the authorites.
Mohamed Abdellah contacted a Facebook page known as the Algerian Spy, which we know of it to be owned and managed by agents from Algeria Secret Services DRS.
“The Algerian Spy” From Graphika report 2021 pages 22-24
https://public-assets.graphika.com/reports/graphika_report_hammering_hirak.pdf
One of the most alarming aspects of activity was the network’s promotion of cyberattacks against prominent opposition figures under the guise of a “hacktivist” group using the name الجزائري الجاسوس) The Algerian Spy). The Algerian Spy group emerged in February 2021 and since then posted a series of videos in which unidentified hackers claim to compromise the social media accounts, websites and devices of members of Algeria’s political opposition living in France, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The actors shared the videos to four Facebook pages and at least one YouTube channel, all of which used the same self-styled logo and variations of the Algerian Spy name.
The group presented itself on Facebook and YouTube as an Anonymous-style hacking collective seeking to expose the bad deeds of “traitors” threatening the security of Algeria. Their videos purport to document a range of cyberattacks, from the basic compromise of WordPress websites and Twitter accounts using stolen passwords, to allegedly exfiltrating recordings of private phone calls from hacked mobile devices. Often the videos contain sensitive personal information belonging to the victim, including financial records, copies of identity documents and addresses. Graphika was not able to determine if the breaches genuinely occurred or were faked, but footage of two of the targets included in the videos suggest they were aware of the Algerian Spy activities. Each video and alleged hack appeared designed to discredit the person being targeted, and imply that Hirak protesters against the government have been duped by anti-regime activists living abroad. For example, one video posted on February 14, 2021, purported to expose an Algerian opposition figure’s coordination with a Moroccan intelligence source through Facebook Messenger, and another video from February 16 featured financial documents showing what the creators said were suspicious money transfers from the U.K. and Europe to Algeria.
The group’s efforts revolved around a series of Facebook pages and up to three YouTube channels, the most popular of which was also called Algerian Spy and described itself as “alternative media.” After creating the original set of accounts in February, the actors then grappled with a series of account suspensions on Facebook, which they denounced in videos as attempts to stifle free speech while directing viewers to newly-created pages. Through analyzing the activity of the wider network, Graphika determined that in addition to the four Algerian Spy pages, at least ten other pages in the takedown set had also promoted Algerian Spy-produced content on Facebook in a coordinated manner since February.
Mohamed Abdellah did a small sting operation making the Algerian Spy that he was an Algerian hacker, who believes in the same aims and values of the Algerian Spy mission. He told them the he has just hacked Mohamed Abdellah’s smart phone and provided them with conversation he had with Mansouri. He told the Spy, look this guy called Mansouri, he is an element of the DRS and he is leaking data to the traitor Mohamed Abdellah.
The Algerian spy swollowed the bait, they transferred the data to the police and Mansouri was swiftly arrested. But instead of indicting him on fraud, they seem to have sat with Mansouri and ironically weaved a fabricated story using the mixtures in his account of terrorist background and implication in fraud and cheating. Hence they sew the basics for a terrorist plot that never was and, based on it they issued international arrest warrant against Mohamed Abdellah, Mohamed Larbi Zitout and the others.
Since all the evidence are available, Mohamed Abdellah would be divinely exonerated, even honoured to be involved in this case in a noble manner. As he will be in every other case including against the Algerian gendarmerie and army command.
