Translated material
The first Algerian president, Hero of the Soviet Union Ahmed Ben Bell died
In Algeria, at the age of 96, the first president of this country Ahmed Ben Bella, who became the head of state after declaring independence in 1962, died. Death occurred as a result of a serious long illness, reports Newsru Israel with reference to the official Algerian news agency. Ben Bella died in his house.
Ahmed Ben Bella was born in a small village in the west of Algeria in 1916. During World War II, Ben Bella served in the French army. In 1947, he founded an underground "special organization", the main goal of which was declared an armed struggle with France for the independence of Algeria.
During the war for the independence of Algeria, which began in 1954, Ben Bella was part of the political leadership of the National Liberation Front (FLN), which raised the rebellion against the French authorities. In 1956, Ben Bella and other representatives of the political leadership were arrested and released in 1962, when Algeria gained state sovereignty.
After the recognition of the independence of Algeria Ben Bella was already considered one of the leaders of the national movement in the country in 1962. In the same year, he headed the first government of the Algerian People's Democratic Republic. In 1963, Ahmed Ben Bella was elected President of Algeria in a non -alternative election.
By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 30, 1964, Ben Belle was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.
In 1965, he was overthrown during the military coup, carried out by the Minister of Defense Huari Bumeden.
After the coup, Ben Bella was under house arrest. Only in 1980, the authorities abolished the arrest, after which Ben Bella went on exile. He lived ten years in Switzerland, and in 1990 he received permission to return to Algeria.
In recent years, in rare interviews, Ben Bella called himself "an adherent of Islam and a peacekeeper." In the Arab world, Ben Bellu was considered one of the last convinced by a supporter of panarabism and Arab nationalism.