Algerian military court jails opposition leader Hanoune

Prosecutors at Algeria's military court on Thursday ordered the temporary incarceration of the head of the opposition Workers' Party, Louisa Hanoune. The order was issued after the court summoned the 65-year-old politician as a witness earlier in the day, the party said in a statement without giving further details. There was no immediate official confirmation.

The leftist party called Hanoune's imprisonment a "very dangerous deviation and incrimination of independent political work."

Algeria's official news agency APS reported that the military court based in the capital Algiers had summoned Hanoune in connection with ongoing investigations into three key allies of former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was forced to resign last month.

Bouteflika's brother Said and two ex-chiefs of the country's intelligence service Toufik Medienne and Bachir Tartaq, were jailed last week pending further questioning over charges of violating the army's authority and conspiring against the state.

Weeks of street protests and pressure from the influential military forced Bouteflika to step down after he had governed the energy-rich North African country for 20 years. His rule is believed to have been dominated by cronyism and mismanagement.

In 2013, Bouteflika, now aged 82, suffered a stroke amid opposition claims that his inner circle had become the de facto ruler of the country.    (dpa)