Post-independence Shortly after independence, he joined other ALN military members in studying at a
KGB school in the Soviet Union. He was then posted to the 2nd military region (around
Oran), then commanded by future President
Chadli Bendjedid, where he established ties with
Larbi Belkheir. In 1983, he was posted to
Tripoli as military attaché. Soon after returning, he became head of presidential security for Bendjedid. He later became head of army security in the
Sécurité Militaire, led at the time by Mohamed Betchine. After Betchine's departure in 1987, Mediene was appointed general and a temporary chief of the intelligence organization. Little is known for certain about
le pouvoir, but Mediene has frequently been mentioned as a leading
décideur. Preceding this,
Ahmed Gaid Salah, the Chief of Staff of the Army and 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. Through the DRS' networks, Mediène was believed to hold significant power in Algeria's media, business lobbies, army, and different political parties. A popular rumor in Algeria that cannot be verified has it that Mediène "always receives people in his office with his back turned - if you see his face, this is the last time you see someone in your life." Regardless if this rumor is true or not, the popularity of this rumor says much about Mediène's reputation in Algeria, a man widely viewed as the "Darth Vader" of Algerian politics. Mediène's dismissal was viewed as the culmination of a long "behind-the-scenes power struggle" with Bouteflika, leaving the latter fully in charge and giving him more power to determine his own successor. ==References==