Fifteen years have passed since I returned home, after all these events lived in Europe. money is half of happiness, children too, both together and you have complete happiness. my two eldest sons lived with me, and their mother of course. My son was a devout Muslim since his childhood; he was on his third or fourth pilgrimage when he simply decided to make a one-way ticket this time. this what one of the pilgrims reported to us once returned to the country "duty calls me," said MAHDI ... .. for me the message was clear , for his mother, things were not so obvious.

So Iran was my first destination after this long truce, my ex-wife still had her english passport, I had booked two plane tickets to London, and I had promised them a one-year lease as soon as she’ll finds an apartment. the serious things were about to begin now, for it was not a courtesy visit to my dear son, he had initially to be found. so for this reason it was necessary to be recruited and that's how I could get a job at DAECH. Always via the internet I had an appointment in Turkey, once received, one proposed to me to go to the Syrian border.

Just say: “there are no gods other than Allah and Mohamed is his prophet” and you are dressed and a Kalache-Nikov in your hands if you know how to use it. to tell you gentlemen that these people do not ask you questions sirs…oh no one do not look for lunchtime at fourteen o'clock even if you come from elsewhere, they make you battlers. I was in a group made up of ten, a dozen or fifteen people approximately. In a bare ground, under a blazing sun we walked. Orders are the orders; we had to assault a town witch I forgot the name. there were cannon shots, tanks without doubt, and we could see very well a fighter plane, one told me it was explosive barrels that were released. despite all these ripostes, the people of DAECH were able to take control over this city. finally was the truce, one heard more the plane which bombarded. the forces of Bechar Al Assad have to surely beat a retreat.“Allah Akbar ...ALLAH Akbar »everyone shouted victory in the group except me, the Emir of Djamaa looked at me for a moment…..then I asked him:

“_I am looking for my son…..a young Algerian boy ..his name is AL- Mahdi

“_.... AL- Mahdi Al Mountadar? ... “ everybody laughed

“no sorry old man… the coming of the Imam Al- Mahdi is not yet announced

I have reached another city, or at least what remains of it, taken over by Enosra, another fighting faction. In this Bled you can never know who is making war with whom, who kills who. what is happening now is one of the signs of the apocalypse approach announced by the prophet Mohamed;

Christians will be divided into seventy-two or seventy-three groups (Catholics, Protestants ... Orthodox ... Jesuits, Jansenites and add to this the sects ....) Muslims too, they will be seventy or seventy-one rival factions and it will be the same for the Jews 71 or 73…all in hell (Muslims included) except one category; those who will follow my sunnah (the sunnits) words of the prophet Mahomet

the battle was in full swing, on each vehicle, there were machine guns, one could also hear mortar shots. a voice called me from the rubble: “_...Abou-Cif ... .Abou Cif ... _” he supposed to take me for someone else. a man lying on the ground, his leg was half torn from his right knee. a little girl stood beside him:“_..You are from ENOSRA.... Is not it? " I answered affirmatively, by moving my head

  “_... I entrust to you my daughter, ...... I ...... _”

It was obvious that he was suffering a lot. I approached him, tore a piece of his shirt to make him a garrote just above the wound

“_..... to hear you one would say an Algerian....!

“_...did you see others?

“ _..yes, I think there was a young boy in this town... and he was of the same country as yours

“_..You say he was here ... he's not here now?

“_.... they were people from DAECH, they did not get along with ENOSRA ..... they must be in Iraq now ....» a shell has exploded beside us. he insisted that I take his daughter with me and leave him where he is. the kalash-nikov in my hands, I stopped a van which had just passed. they were wretched civilians who fled the city, I signaled to the little girl to go up. I would always have engraved this face in my memory, she did not stop looking at me, she wanted to stay with me. In short, in my life I have never seen so many people burst. I had a destination to take, no time to play Jean-Valjean (les miserables - Victor Hugo)

Contrary to what was happening in Syria, DAECH was better organized in IRAQ, they had tanks, heavy artillery, but they were regularly targeted by the drones of the international coalition. We had to go north towards the capital and that where the fighting was raging. the suburbs were sometimes conquered and sometimes taken over by the Iraqi army the next day.

I was told to wait and I had to accept. in the shade, in the middle of these beautiful palm trees, the 4x4 arrived and one told me to wait again, thing I always hated in my life

“_...... tell him to come or it's me who will seek him..

here he is... he got out from the vehicle, it was a good joke ... god be praised. his mother would have pushed a you-you to see him still alive

“_.....So you guessed why I came to find you?

 “_don't say that you are here for the cause of god father

 “_God commands you to obey your parents before all things

“_Yes father ... but if everybody had to obey his parents .... there will never ...

“...There will never be an Islamic state ... it’s that?.... I also think so

“_...go there Khaled… cuts of some wood…we’re goanna make tea in honor of my father

a 4x4 vehicle arrived in direction of our palm trees at a rattling pace

it was the chief:“_what are you doing all three ..... go to Jaafar and the others .... you are the father of Al-Mahdi ...... finish your tea and decide yourself ... either you join us and you are under my orders ... or you return from where you come ... _” he did not waste time this Emir

 
A few hours later, in the middle of the night, everyone was asleep except me, I was guarding instead of my son. the next day it was him who came to wake me up, he told me that two of their senior-leaders of Daech had just been killed by a targeted attack of drone

“_listen son, if you continue to do the guerilla, it's you who will soon be taken for target. you have not yet your twenty years I announce you, or you think maybe that the pentagon believe in Father-Noel ...or in Imam El-Mountadar?

«_.... listen father ... ..

 "_... Shut up and listen to me ... .at this moment I talk to you, your profile-sheet is being indexed among the CIA… ... and even when you're at home, it will not change nothing

 "_.... how do you know all these things ...?

"_...I am better placed than you to know…. the Algerian authorities work in close collaboration with their American counterparts in this field

 "_.....so, as much to remain and die as martyrs.

"_..I have better to suggest to you ... ..I'll tell you about all this as soon as we shall cross the borders

 "_.... it’s far away ... and that will not be easy thing

 “_..you did not see anything ...you will be in Syria in less than four hour.._”*****

we reached the turkish coasts, lightings were on the horizon, then intense clouds. the first thunder made us jump. so it was near the suburbs of Valletta (Sicily) that we made our accosting with the other refugees under a pouring rain.

Once at home, I agreed with my son that none of this would be revealed to his mother, for the rest she knew exactly what her son was doing in the east of Athens now.

 Then came the day that I went back to Paris, I wanted to say two words to Madeleine . words which does not resemble to the other words of course. more lucky than Jack-Brel, my Madeleine will come to me tonight .... here she is....Yes, the one who is going to get off the taxi in jeans and leather jacket,she had just taken a little bit weight but .. ..look at this. . .what pace! If i had not had Melouka and the children I would have taken her for queen. she never knew my name. so we were in the XI^th arrondissement on the terrace of a cafeteria or restaurant when this damned phone rang:

“_...... sorry son.... I can't, I'm in Paris.... how that where ?... you're spying on me now?..you are well in Ireland, is that?.. .then mind your own birthday…do you want?........What?...........what is that Bataclan? ... I thought I told you to break up your relationship with these *  ......

still bullshit ..I had completely forgotten that we were a Friday the 13th. we changed place, it was time. now Madeleine does not answer the phone. that is understood as well. before the attacks of September 11^th, 2001, there were also some people who were aware of it, and who were able to save their loved ones. I would have to stay at home in pajamas with Melouka from now on

After this trek lived in Europe, I came back to hide in my country.

One day, an Algerian officer came knocking at my door, he was in civilian clothes, well dressed and did not take off his dark sunglasses until he left: “ _...Mr Abou cif ?…Jamal Abou cif ?…._”

“_...and you are ?..._”

“_.. it's from the colonel ...he wants to meet you in private ..” was it a trap? ... no…the colonel knew what I could do. the match took place in the grandstands of the stadium, among the supporters of the local team. it's me who have chose this place. when he came to sit beside me, he handed me an envelope:

“_... here are the photos of the four terrorists most wanted by our country…” their names were in the back “_..one million dinars by head ...dead or alive ..”

“_..I'm sorry; I'm not a bounty hunter ...”

“_... it's time to tell you that the vise clamps around you ...

“_... YYAEE... _” the local team had just scored a goal ... standing with the supporters, I took off my glasses, revealing red eyes:

“ it seems that you didn’t take things seriously during our last interview ”

“_...Oh, you know, you can threaten me as much as you want, it will not change your case ... on the contrary, you only aggravate the situation ... I ‘ve the matter in hand and I ‘m the only one able to exonerate you ... you have killed two soldiers whom I did not indicate yet in my reports.._”

At first I wanted to finish with this colonel once and for all ... but I could no longer support being hunted, exiled with my children. he was more ambitious than I thought, we had to do fifty-fifty neither seen nor known. I had concealed my implication in this matter to my son Mahdi, despite knowing that he would give me primordial support, so I had to count on Ladmek.

It is not enough to pronounce the slogan that glorifies god and his prophet as it’s the case for DAECH to integrate AQIM or Al-Qaeda, you must commit an attempt ... to tell you gentlemen that among these people, one do not joke with the faith ... oh no, they don’t tolerate it ... one award by the Kalach-Nikov  those who grant their lives for to establish a law. I had not yet left the national territory, the north of Mali was completely conquered by AQIM.

Tamanrasset ... .January / 2015: the good season for tourists, although their number has considerably decreased. what has increased in against part, is the impressive number of black African fleeing conflict and Starvation. to have a coffee, it was useful to go to the places which (displayed full), it was no more than to sit and to strain the ear .........a truck of 20.000L of fuel had just been diverted yesterday to the north of Mali .... was this the right track?. No, desert robbers have always existed. among the Westerners, there are many who think that desert people are only made for raising cattle and picking dates at the harvest day. the caravan time is not completely over but the Toyota has replaced the camel and many of them preferred to bring Kalach-nikov instead of having their traditional sword. Instead of transporting dates, salt or other foodstuffs, there are some who risk their lives by ensuring the transfer of canabis resin(drug) from the western border of Algeria(morocco) to Libya ... yes sir.. those who claim to fight terrorism contribute indirectly to its financing and I always told myself that my four outlaws were not of genre to fit into a pseudo Islamic state where there is amusement in wasting ammunition and slogging Allah Akbar, I had to find another pipe, nothing is needed to run, we must start from scratch. An incognito of color had come to sit at my table:

“_...listen brother... I have trouble ... .exétera ... ..ext ... ._ »

he knew how to express himself in french, and he was rather talkative, he took a coffee with me and then i invited him to share my dinner in my hotel room:

“_... how long have you been here?

“_... It's my second year

“_... and you still want to stay at Tamanrasset?

“_..If I will not have my apparatus next week, I would be in the obligation to leave towards north

“_..you can always consult another dentist and arrange with him an ease of payment…_” he had only a few( pitiful teeth )

“_... HAHAH ... no it is called a metal detector, it looks like a vacuum cleaner used in households

“_ .. Do you need that for your job?

“ _..it costs 100,000dinars (1,800 euros), and it sells on the black market… It seems that you are not aware…. there is gold around dear brother….. I do not say that there is a lot as to pick up with the shovel, but they are real nuggets of 24caras scattered on the ground… barely hidden by a thin layer of sand, or stones

“_..that explains the impressive number of Africans and all these people coming from the north

“_ .. if you want to join us, I warn you dice now ... there are armed individuals among gold diggers

“_ .. you have already ventured into this places at least?

he answered affirmatively moving his head, he had not yet finished eating while I was preparing tea. after get ride of the table, here is my host well served: two cups of tea and my package of Marlboro in the middle of the table, he grabbed a cigarette right away and I did the same

“_ .. yes sir... they confiscated our gold harvest

“_..the Tuaregs ?..” negative was his answer by nodding the head.

“_... I have to leave now, .. I ...

“_..you did not drink your tea ... why are you in a hurry?

“_ .. thank you for the dinner .. well..we are not going to play cards now?

«_... Euuh... justly..” as I stretched out my hand to reach my backpack which was on the bed, and from which I took the envelope handed over by the colonel, the sword had fallen to the ground. here are four cards on the table to begin the game. seeing them he got up by taking a step backwards

“_..so, they were bearded men… white people with turbans who have confiscate your gold , isn't that?..._”

“_...yes I think it must be this one ... the others ... I don’t remember ... you are not going to face them with your sword?

“_... your passport brother ...” one would say that his eyes came out of his head when he saw my automatic weapon pointed at him

“_..Listen sir, my stay has just expired, I intend to go to Algiers to the consulate….

"_ .. stop ...... i said stop , I'm not what you believe ... I just want to make sure that you come back tomorrow morning to show me the way''.....

“_...he's down there at the bottom of the mountain ... in the dry river ... but they're six ...” told me Ladmek, i knew that it was not going to be long in locating him. pointed in the right place, I watched them at a distance and like any self-respecting hiker, there was enough food in my bag as well as two bottles of mineral water. It will be long and not be easy…… here is someone who has moved away from the group ... .for his needs without doubts…….. this was not my ugly. In the early morning, three of them had gone, they are only three now…mine was rolling a barrel of gasoline with his foot ... where does he want to go ? ... by throwing a glance all around, I had seen their vehicle hidden between the bushes. it’s time to act now unless the two other will join him “_... don’t move ... _” his Kalash-Nikov was hanging on his shoulder

“_..Are you an envoy of the Colonel?..” then he put his hand in his pocket

“_... ??... Stop ... you're dead ... .you will cause me less trouble so ... don’t play the idiot..” he had just thrown in my direction a little plastic box ... it was transparent and in the twinkling of an eye, I could see that it was gold inside
“ .. pick up the box and tell him that the harvest was lean this month ..what are you waiting for? .go shoot ..it's going to be your turn soon ... another dumbass agent like you will come to make you the skin..”

The shock was such that I almost knocked down my pistol. so, it was not just me with whom the colonel was doing bizness. I said that in my life I always hated waiting, but being taken for a dumbass is something I never tolerate.

Friday, May 13, 2016, nothing special in the headlines of the newspapers, although an Algerian tourist was found dead at dawn on Sousse beach in Tunisia. the autopsy will surely confirm a drowning, asphyxia or strangulation. Considering his identity, I let you guess. but it was not only that, my wife told me that one had become grandparents

“_..it's a boy ...his wife has just given birth in Italy ...in his country of origin

At hearing to Melouka, it seems that she didn't show a great enthusiasm ... nor me either, as a matter of fact; my wife never took too much in heart the arrival of Valeta in the family “_ .. Salamou-alaykoum..” talk of the Devil

“_ .. then son ... ready to run away to Italy? ... or maybe Sicily?

“_ .. I can't join Valeta on the phone

“_...so how did you know ?

“_ .. I received an email from Bryan

“_ .. come here El-Mahdi ... I have to talk to you..” the interview was in front of his mother, there was not much thing to conceal now

“see you later mom” I think this is the first time she saw her son taking some fresh air with a weapon in his back , it did not surprise her. what she regretted, it’s not to have pocket money to give him. later when I threw the little plastic box in her arms as a sign of consolation, there she could not hide her astonishment “_...yes Mimi .... there is gold in Tamanrasset…._” when a truth follow another, the second assumes the presupposition form. she knew I’m not made for digging all day in the Sahara under a blazing sun.

“_...why should he not go to the authorities so that he can benefit from the law of national reconciliation, as all the others have done? ... those who have throw down the weapons... he hasn't participated in killings

“_...never….did you hear me .....nobody should know he is here except his brothers…_”

This law is still in force, it cost billions to the Algerian government. approved by the senate, and once passed at the polls of the citizens. it was the yes witch prevailed despite intense protests. so the repented were able to integrate civilian life and could take again their jobs. They have been paid with retroactive effect and have profit from many welfare benefits. yes, peace it is bought.

As the Colonel said before his death, the vise clamps around me...however in the immensity of the desert.. from Mauritania to Egypt...? this is why I have found useful to stay there ……. as much to look for a needle in a haystack ... ..