Former Algerian President dead

Algeria's former president Chadli Bendjedid died of cancer on Saturday, aged 83, the APS news agency reported. Bendjedid had been admitted to the Ain Naajda military hospital in the capital more than a week ago. He was his country’s third president, February 9, 1979 to January 11, 1992 having risen through the ranks after independence. Prior to that, Bendjedid had served as a non-commissioned officer in the French Army, fighting in Indo-China before defecting to the National Liberation Front (FLM) at the beginning of the Algerian War of Independence in 1954. He became President on the death of his mentor, Houari Boumediene having previously served as the Minister of Defence. He was viewed as a compromise candidate after the party leadership and presidency was contested at the fourth FLN congress held on 27 - 31 January 1979. While in power, he oversaw a reduction in the state’s role in the economy and in the level of surveillance on the general population. However, his policies met internal opposition, exacerbated by rapidly falling oil prices which ultimately led to riots in 1988 which were brutally put down by the army. Attempts to introduce a multi-party democracy to the country, perhaps as a survival strategy, were quashed, however, when the military intervened in 1991 to stop the elections. Bendjedid was forced out of power, which led to the long and bloody Algerian Civil War.