Algiers, Feb 25, 2010, SPA -- The chief of Algeria's national police was shot dead on Thursday at his headquarters by another police official who was acting in a moment of insanity, Reuters quoted the Interior Ministry as saying. "The death of Ali Tounsi ... took place during a working session, in the course of which a police official, apparently gripped by an attack of madness, used his weapon and fatally wounded Colonel Tounsi," state radio quoted a ministry statement as saying. "A judicial enquiry has been opened to determine the circumstances of this distressing event," the statement said. There was no indication of any link between Tounsi's killing and al Qaeda insurgents who periodically attack government targets in Algeria, a major oil and gas exporter. The police force headed by Tounsi has played an important role in the effort to stamp out the long-running insurgency by Islamist militants. --SPA 18:53 LOCAL TIME 15:53 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/752115