Mr. Mohamed Boudiaf This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. July 1998

   www.north-africa.com/private/s - [Cached]

   Published on: 7/1/1998   Last Visited: 2/2/2004

   Mohamed Boudiaf
   ...
   One of the main figures of the Algerian revolution, Mohamed Boudiaf, died in June 29, 1992. Mr. Boudiaf was assassinated by a police officer while giving a speech in the eastern city of Annaba. Mr. Boudiaf was yet another victim of the Algerian crisis which has so far claimed tens of thousands of lives.
   
   Shortly after the independence of Algeria, Mr. Boudiaf left his country to settle in neighboring Morocco. He lived in the city of Kenitra quietly watching and witnessing the bankruptcy and the mismanagement of his country.
   ...
   It was within this context that Boudiaf was requested to come back to save Algeria. He returned in the beginning of the 1990s to lead a country in crisis at the age of 72 years old.
   
   Boudiaf was however very different from many in Algeria who have the position of power. He spoke in a language that the Algerian people clearly understood and identified with. He stood against the group of individuals who wanted to impose a forced ‘Arabization', creating many enemies around him.
   
   Mr. Boudiaf started to give real hope to his people. He toured Algeria explaining his vision of his country while attacking corruption in the regime. Boudiaf vowed that he would clean up the country from corruption, a vow that triggered an immediate reaction from the individuals he intended to target. On June 29, 1992, Boudiaf was shot down by a simple police officer who shot him several times in the back.
   
   Today, Algerians continue to wonder who killed Boudiaf. But his death meant also the death of a dream of a nation that would find peace with itself.