After Tunisia in 2017 and Morocco in 2020, famous raï music singer Reda Taliani was arrested on January 20, in a state of intoxication and in possession of drugs in a bar-restaurant in Dubai, UAE, well-informed sources told Yabiladi. The Emirati police intervened following a violent altercation involving the native of El Biar, in Algiers. Reda Taliani left Morocco for a stay in the United Arab Emirates at the end of December 2020. He was expected to shoot a music video and perform several times at the Mazagan bar-restaurant, located at the Ramada Plazza hotel. The artist's Facebook page indeed announced the concerts which took place on December 31, January 1 and January 7. While the raï music star broadcast videos and messages on social media almost daily, he has not posted anything since January 18. After his arrest ten days ago, the procedure requires the Dubai authorities to contact the embassy of the country of the tourist arrested. Until today, the Algerian embassy has not yet reacted, reportedly. The Moroccan embassy, for its part, cannot intervene as the singer is an Algerian national and the husband of a Moroccan national. Despite reports claiming that the singer bears Moroccan citizenship, Reda Taliani has only been living in Morocco since 2008. His love for Morocco brought him a wave of criticism, including from Algerian internet users, during the last three years. On December 23, the Algerian singer had to remind his followers that he was «300% Algerian». In July 2017, in Hammamet, Tunisia, the singer was arrested in possession of cocaine. In February 2020, the singer was arrested by Moroccan police in Mohammedia for driving while intoxicated.
