Who was Larbi Ben M'hidi, whose assassination Emmanuel Macron recognized by “French soldiers”?

ALGERIAN WAR – It was 67 years ago. On a farm outside Algiers, a few days after his arrest on February 23, 1957, the independence activist Larbi Ben M'hidi was executed by French soldiers, as recognized by the Élysée in a press release published this Friday 1 november. Often presented by his compatriots as the “Jean Moulin Algerian”the 34-year-old was one of the historical figures of his country's war of independence.

Born in 1923 near Aïn M'lila, in the Aurès, Larbi Ben M'hidi became interested in politics at the age of 17. “He was a scout leader, played football in the Biskra Sports Union team and did theater. But he also had an exacerbated political conscience”will tell his sister Drifa Ben M'hidi. In May 1945, he participated in demonstrations demanding the independence of Algeria. He is arrested and imprisoned in Constantine. Upon his release, he joined the MTLD (Movement for the Triumph of Democratic Liberties).

Historical leader of the FLN

In July 1954, Ben M'hidi was among the 22 independence activists who decided to move on to insurrection, then was chosen to become one of the six historic leaders of the National Liberation Front (FLN) who launched the war of independence. , November 1st. In August 1956, he chaired the “Congress of Soummam”in the maquis of little Kabylia, which provides the FLN with political and military structures.

At the beginning of 1957, bombs planted by the FLN exploded in cafes and stadiums in Algiers, killing 15 people and injuring dozens. The commander of the 10th parachute division, General Jacques Massu, launched into a merciless fight against the FLN. The paratroopers patrol Algiers, search day and night, arrest massively. Jacques Massu would later express his regret for the torture during this campaign to avoid the decolonization of what was then a French department.

His death disguised as suicide

On February 23, in full “Battle of Algiers”Ben M'hidi is arrested by the regiment of Colonel Marcel Bigeard. Exhibited in front of the press, handcuffed, he remains smiling and serene, facing the French paratroopers. On the night of March 3 to 4, Ben M'hidi was transferred to an abandoned farm and then executed. The French soldiers will then pass off his death as a suicide.

In a confession book, “Special services, Algeria 1955-1957”published in 2001, General Paul Aussaresses, former head of the intelligence services in Algiers, admits to having organized the assassination, claiming to have acted with the approval of the politicians in power at the time.

Considered a hero in Algeria, the man nicknamed El-Hakim (the wise man) gave his name to numerous places and institutional buildings in the country.

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