2023-12-30 12:48:54
Khaled Nezzar, in Algiers (Algeria), January 9, 2016. RYAD KRAMDI / AFP
General Khaled Nezzar, former Algerian defense minister, died Friday December 29, 2023 at the age of 86. His death comes the day after the announcement by Swiss justice of the opening of his trial for “war crimes and crimes against humanity” on June 17, 2024. The Algerian President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, paid tribute to “an eminent military personality who dedicated his life, full of sacrifices and dedication, to the service of the homeland, from the various positions and responsibilities he occupied”.
Born on December 25, 1937, in Seriana, in the Batna department (east of the country), Khaled Nezzar joined the French army in 1949, notably passing through the National School of Active Non-Commissioned Officers in Saint-Maixent-l ‘School, from which he graduated as a non-commissioned officer. He deserted in April 1958 to join the Algerian National Liberation Army in Tunisia. He will thus be one of the famous “DAF” – deserters from the French army – used by President Houari Boumediene for their military skills. Over the years, they will occupy key positions.
After independence, Khaled Nezzar joined the Frunze military academy in the USSR then, in 1975, the Paris War School. In 1986, he was appointed commander of land forces, a position which often prepared him for that of chief of staff of the army, the backbone of the authoritarian political system put in place after Algeria’s independence in 1962.
He puts down the October revolt
In October 1988, to deal with the youth revolt which was spreading in all the cities of the country with violent attacks against the symbols of the regime, in particular the premises of the National Liberation Front (FLN) and those of the police, the President Chadli Bendjedid declares a state of siege. General Khaled Nezzar is responsible for restoring order. He accomplished his mission with great brutality: the death toll, never officially admitted, was at least 500 dead. Thousands of people were arrested, notably activists from the Socialist Vanguard Party (epigone of the Algerian Communist Party) and tortured. Terrifying testimonies will be recorded in the October black notebook, published in 1989 by the National Committee Against Torture. The political and social anger which exploded in October 1988 would be taken over by the Islamists, whose growing weight would be embodied by the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS).
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A month after putting down the October revolt, Khaled Nezzar was promoted to army chief of staff on November 16, 1988, thus becoming one of the most powerful men in the country. In 1990, in the wake of reforms putting an end to the single party, Chadli Bendjedid appointed Khaled Nezzar as minister of national defense, a position that heads of state had until then reserved for themselves. A first which will not have a continuation, the future Algerian presidents – Liamine Zéroual, Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Mr. Tebboune – will cautiously return to tradition.
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