Controversial outsider brought in to galvanise Algeria’s Sonatrach

On 20 March, Noureddine Bouterfa announced that he had dismissed Sonatrach chairman and chief executive (PDG) Amine Mazouzi following a meeting of the company’s board. In his place he appointed Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour, the former PDG of Brown & Root Condor (BRC) who almost exactly a decade ago was being held under court supervision pending further inquiries into a major corruption scandal at BRC, then a joint venture between Sonatrach and Halliburton. Sonatrach squashed the controversy by buying out its US partner as part of a damage limitation exercise. It appears that Kaddour was never tried for any crime.