20100719
Reuters

ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algerian prosecutors denied a local newspaper report on Monday that the son of a government minister allied to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika had been placed under criminal investigation.

El Watan, quoting unnamed sources close to the case, said justice officials were investigating an allegation that the son of Justice Minister Tayeb Belaiz was involved in laundering drug money.

"The Prosecutor-General .... at the Oran court formally denies any involvement or judicial charges with regard to the son of the Justice Minister," the prosecutor-general's office in Oran, western Algeria, said in a statement faxed to Reuters.

It said there had been a case of mistaken identity, and the newspaper had confused the minister's son with someone with the same family name from the Oran region who had been detained on charges related to drug trafficking.

The newspaper allegation was the latest in a series of reports linking senior Algerian officials -- some with ties to Bouteflika -- to criminal activity.

A Justice Ministry spokeswoman did not comment on the press report. Representatives of the minister's son could not be reached for comment.

El Watan reported that the minister's son, whom it did not name, was being investigated on the basis of information from a drug trafficker arrested in Oran.

The paper did not make clear whether the allegation related to current or past activity, and did not allege any wrongdoing by the minister.