At the time of the 1991 legislative election , which was won by th Islamic Salvation Front , Mediene joined a group of ruling generals in '' Les éradicateurs '' ( " the Eradicator " ) faction . This name derives from the goal of eradicating the Islamists , as opposed to negotiating with them . This group is regarded as behind the military coup that followed the election 's first round . The Eradicator faction is regarded to have gained and held power during the civil war triggered by the military coup . Since the 1992 coup , a " shadowy " group of generals and intelligence officers known to the Algerians collectively as '' le pouvoir '' ( “ the power ” ) and whose individual members are called '' décideurs '' has dominated Algerian politics with the FLN reduced down to a mere front for '' le pouvoir '' . Little is known for certain about '' le pouvoir '' , but Mediene has frequently been mentioned as a leading '' décideur '' . Officially , the languages of Algeria are Arabic and Berber , but in practice , most Algerians speak a language called Darija that is a mixture of Arabic , Berber and French , which explains why French expressions are often used in Algeria . Arabic has been the official language of Algeria since 1962 , but French remains the language of power in Algeria and cabinet meetings are conducted in French , the language of the Algerian elite , who often struggle with Arabic . During the civil war , the DRS , led by Mediene , headed efforts to repress Islamist groups . DRS agents , which reportedly number as high as 100,000 , infiltrated and manipulated terrorist groups , and stopped efforts in both ruling and opposition groups to negotiate with the ISF . In 1993 , he was promoted to general-major , and in July 2006 , he was promoted to Lieutenant General ( '' Général de corps d'armée '' . ) Although he supported President Abdelaziz Bouteflika as part of the Eradicator faction , Mediene through the DRS was later believed to be involved in a power struggle with Bouteflika . After supporting Bouteflika 's first three terms , he did not support his fourth term bid , announced in January 2014 . Preceding this , Ahmed Gaid Salah , the Deputy Minister of Defense , accused the DRS of complacency in failing to prevent the In Amenas hostage crisis . And in September 2013 , the DRS was reorganised to bring more of it under state control . In February 2014 , the secretary general of Bouteflika 's party , the FLN , accused the DRS of infiltrating and destabilizing several political parties
In Amenas hostage crisis
In Amenas hostage crisis
Mohamed Mediène