The political crisis, in which Mediene has engineered the overthrow of several of Boutelfika's key political allies, has paralyzed political life and particularly Algeria's state oil monopoly, Sonatrach, which produces 95 percent of the country's revenues.

"While there's no evidence that a candidate for succession has yet been chosen, the question of the succession to Bouteflika is likely to be settled during the next two years before the 50th anniversary of Algeria's independence," a senior diplomat commented.

"Until then, the country will continue to lack clear political direction whether in domestic, foreign, or economic policy."

The president's younger brother, Said, has become a senior figure within Bouteflika's camp but he lacks a strong power base and charisma to be considered a credible candidate.

A more likely successor would be Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, whose position has been enhanced by Bouteflika in recent constitutional amendments. But he's not likely to be acceptable to Mediene's service, the Departement du Renseignement at de la Securite, or DRS.

Mediene, trained by the KGB when Algeria was in the Soviet orbit, has headed the DRS for 20 years. He's believed to be the world's longest serving intelligence chief.

There are whispers that he may be eased out because of his high-profile feud with the Bouteflika clan and the political storms he created at a time when Algeria is striving to demonstrate its stability following its war against Islamist militants throughout the 1990s, a conflict that still simmers.

The political rivalry between Bouteflika, who is 73 and said to be in poor health, and Mediene, once his partner in power, emerged from years of backroom conspiracies, the kind of political intrigue that is endemic in the Middle East.

Mediene, who is widely credited with ruthlessly crushing the Islamist insurgency, was appointed director of the DRS in September 1990.

That was 15 months before the military chiefs, including Mediene who was then only a colonel, scrapped parliamentary elections that the Islamists were poised to win.

That would have unseated the nationalist veterans of the 1954-62 independence war against France who had held power for three decades.

Throughout the 1990s, Mediene was backed by Gen. Mohammed Lamari, the military chief of staff and the most powerful of the generals known then as "The Power."

As the insurgency faded, Mediene amassed power. In 1999, he supported Bouteflika's run for the presidency and he won.

After Bouteflika won re-election in April 2004, they reportedly worked to force out the widely hated Lamari. They effectively shared power but fell out when Bouteflika secured a third term in April 2009.

That had required a constitutional amendment, which the DRS had supported, although with misgivings.

According to political analysts, the split came when Bouteflika's political "clan" started establishing a political power base, setting the scene for Said Bouteflika to move into the presidency.

Algeria expert Jeremy Keegan of London's School of Oriental and African Studies says, "Mediene was alert to the possibility that Bouteflika, having got rid of Lamari at the beginning of his third term, might try to do the same with Mediene at the end."

Mediene launched a high-profile anti-corruption campaign, a device frequently used by Arab leaders to get rid of rivals, against Public Works Minister Amar Ghoul, a close friend of Said Bouteflika. Ghoul was hounded out of office.

Next Mediene focused on Sonatrach and the Oil and Energy Ministry headed by Chaklib Khelil, who along with Interior Minister Noureddine Zerhouni, another Bouteflika ally, were dumped in the beleaguered president's May Cabinet reshuffle.

Sonatrach's top managers, mostly Bouteflika partisans, were indicted for corruption and thrown in jail and replaced by Mediene's people.

The president tried to retaliate by setting up a security commission to investigate several political assassinations and the wartime massacres of civilians widely seen as the work of Mediene's service to discredit the Islamists.

"We will probably never know what dark arts were exercised on Bouteflika after the publication of the testimonies," Keegan observed. "Suffice it to say that nothing more has been heard of the commission."

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