Mohamed Boudiaf

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1919 - 1992

Algerian revolutionary; president of the Haut Comité d'Etat, 1992.

Born in MʾSila, Mohamed Boudiaf was drafted in 1943 into the French Army, where he tried to organize nationalist cells in the Algerian ranks. He supported the nationalist ideals of Messali Hadj and joined the paramilitary Organisation Spéciale (OS). He eluded French authorities and later became a party organizer for the Mouvement pour le Triomphe des Libertés Démocratiques (MTLD) in France. Aligning with the restive younger Messalist elite, Boudiaf played an important role in launching the Comité Révolutionnaire d'Unité et d'Action (CRUA), which led to the formation of the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN). He is regarded as one of the nine "historic chiefs" of the Algerian War of Independence. He served in the external faction of the FLN until a controversial French skyjacking in October 1956, when he was captured along with historic chiefs Ahmed Ben Bella, Hocine Ait Ahmed, and Mohamed Khider. Boudiaf spent the rest of the war in prison.

Boudiaf supported neither Ben Bella nor the Gouvernement Provisoire de la République Algérienne (GPRA) in the power struggle after the war. He founded instead an organization called the Parti de la Révolution Socialiste (PRS). Boudiaf was arrested in 1963 and condemned to death, but was later sent into exile. He supported a coalition of opposition groups known as the Comité National de Défense de la Révolution (CNDR), which was established in 1964. After President Ben Bella's deposal in June 1965 Boudiaf opposed the successor regime led by Colonel Houari Boumédienne.

Unlike his former FLN "brothers" Ben Bella and Ait Ahmed, Boudiaf did not return to Algeria right after the October 1988 riots that led to political liberalization. The crisis caused by the Front Islamique du Salut's resounding first-round victory in the parliamentary elections in December 1991 forced apprehensive civilian and military elites to depose President Chadli Bendjedid in January 1992. Then they inaugurated the Haut Comité d'Etat (HCE), a collective executive body, and persuaded Boudiaf to preside over it. His presence was viewed as historical and symbolic. Boudiaf claimed to serve no party except the Algerian nation. He inaugurated the advisory Conseil Consultatif National (CCN) in April. In an effort to mobilize and legitimize his authority, in the following month Boudiaf organized the Rassemblement Patriotique National (RPN).

Boudiaf's energetic engagement earned him respect and even popularity. Nevertheless, he also provoked important enemies. He was staunchly anti-Islamist and determined to address official corruption. His assassination in Annaba in June 1992 was a national tragedy that has been commemorated yearly. The reasons why a bodyguard shot him remain wrapped in mystery. It was reported that the assassin had Islamist tendencies, but clearly Boudiaf also threatened the privileges of members of the Pouvoir - the military and civilian power establishment. Fatiha Boudiaf, the president's widow, has appealed for the truth. She has earned an international reputation for her activism.

Bibliography

Gordon, David C. The Passing of French Algeria. London: Oxford University Press, 1966.

Ibrahim, Youssef M. "President of Algeria Assassinated; Officials Blame Muslim Fundamentalists." New York Times, 30 June 1992.

Willis, Michael. The Islamist Challenge in Algeria: A Political History. New York: New York University Press, 1996.

— PHILLIP C. NAYLOR