dozens of Air Algerie‘s “special flights” to small military airfields controlled by Gaddafi’s forces.

Accusations of an Algerian military involvement in support of Gaddafi’s regime grew even louder with recent proof of dozens of Air Algerie‘s “special flights” to small military airfields controlled by Gaddafi’s forces.

In an interview with the Canadian daily Globe and Mail, Omar Hariri, military head of the Libyan Provisional  National Council, accused the Algerian military in backing the Libyan regime’s drive to squash the revolutionary forces in the city of Benghazi.
Mr. Hariri said that Gaddafi hired “Algerian pilots for bombing raids on Libyan targets.” The opposition military official also added that ”data from the air traffic control tower at Benina International Airport showing 22 flights by Algerian aircraft to Libyan destinations between Feb.19 and 26. Some are listed as passenger flights by Air Algerie,using civilian aircraft, but the majority are labeled “special flights” by aircraft bearing registration codes used by the Algerian military.”  

'The records show repeated flights by C-130 Hercules and Ilyushin Il-76, aircraft big enough to carry battle tanks, from Algeria and within Libya. The destinations include small airports in Sabha and Surt, which are key forward bases for the regime forces now advancing on rebels in the east.”

The Libyan revolutionaries are blaming the recent advances of Gaddafi’s  forces on the new military equipments supplied by Algeria and Syria and the rising numbers of militiamen backing Libyan regular forces.

“The Algerians denied this very loudly, but they cannot deny this data,” said Gamal Elkour, a libya rebel, who is a former flight engineer. “What did these planes carry? Fruits and vegetables?”

With this new evidence and mounting accusation against the Algerian military, the role of Algeria’s special intelligence units in Tripoli and around Benghazi are getting hard to deny.

Algeria's ( and syria) position against a no fly zone over Libya, that was voted recently by the Arab League, is seen by the libyan rebels as yet an another indication of Algeria's role in keeping the Gaddafi regime afloat. The Military backed government in Algeria has also worked hard to stop the Arab League from recognizing the Libyan council in Benghazi as the country’s interim government.
The Algerian government has also been working behind the scene to stop other African and Arab countries from recognizing the new Libyan government in-waiting.

According to Libyan Rebel leaders, Algeria's stance will be negatively reflected its future relations with Libya when Gaddafi leaves the scene.
 
In Algeria, the public is solidly behind the revolutionary forces battling Gaddafi. Ordinary Algerians view the Libyan opposition uprising to be similar to their past revolutionary struggles. The Algerian independent  press expressed dismay at Algeria's help in proping up Gaddafi. Some local news sources reported on a split within the Bouteflika government over the ‘Libya policy” where the President of the Republic, bouteflika, is kept in the dark over the activities of the military intelligence Agency (DRS) in Libya.

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