Ali Ammar ( ar, علي عمار; 14 May 1930 – 8 October 1957), better known by his nickname Ali la Pointe, was an Algerian revolutionary fighter and
guerrilla leader of the
National Liberation Front who fought for
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
n independence against the
French colonial regime
The French colonial empire () comprised the overseas colony, colonies, protectorates and League of Nations mandate, mandate territories that came under French rule from the 16th century onward. A distinction is generally made between the "First F ...
, during the
Battle of Algiers.
Ali lived a life of petty crime and was serving a two-year prison sentence when the
Algerian War (1954 to 1962) began. Recruited in the notorious
Barberousse prison by
FLN militants, he became one of their most trusted and loyal lieutenants in
Algiers. On 28 December 1956, he was suspected of killing the Mayor of
Boufarik
Boufarik is a town in Blida Province, Algeria, approximately 30 km from Algiers. In 2008, its population was 57,162.popul ...
, Amédée Froger.
In 1957 French paratroopers led by Colonel
Yves Godard
Yves Godard (21 December 1911 – 3 March 1975) was a French Army officer who fought in World War II, First Indochina War and Algerian War. A graduate of Saint-Cyr and Chasseur Alpin, he served as a ski instructor in Poland during 1939, but af ...
systematically isolated and eliminated the FLN leadership in Algiers. Godard's extortion methods included
torture
Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. definitions of tortur ...
. In June, la Pointe led teams setting explosives in street lights near bus stops and bombing a dance club that killed 17 people.
Saadi Yacef
Saadi Yacef (; 20 January 1928 – 10 September 2021) was an Algerian independence fighter, serving as a leader of the National Liberation Front during his country's war of independence. He was a Senator in Algeria's Council of the Nation unti ...
ordered the leadership to hide in separate addresses within
the Casbah. After Yacef's capture, la Pointe and three companions,
Hassiba Ben Bouali
Hassiba Ben Bouali ( ar, حسيبة بن بوعلي) (18 January 1938 – 9 October 1957) was a leader and fighter in the Algerian independence war (1954–62).
Biography
Hassiba Ben Bouali was born in El-Asnam (Today, Chlef), Algeria, into an ...
, Mahmoud "Hamid" Bouhamidi and
'Petit Omar', held out in hiding until 8 October. Tracked down by paras acting on a tip-off from an informer, Ali La Pointe was given the chance to surrender but refused, whereupon he, his companions and the house in which he was hiding were bombed by French paratroopers; 20 Algerians were killed in the blast.
Biography
Ali Ammar was born on 14 May 1930 in
Miliana
Miliana ( ar, مليانة) is a commune in Aïn Defla Province in northwestern Algeria. It is the administrative center of the daïra, or district, of the same name. It is approximately southwest of the Algerian capital, Algiers.r/sup>, which ...
, Algeria to a poor family. The family's financial situation did not allow him to attend school. His nickname "La Pointe" comes from the Point district in Miliana. While being imprisoned for the first time at the age of thirteen, he learned masonry. In 1945, he became known in Algeria for playing tchi-tchi, a type of gambling game scam, then as a pimp and acquired a sort of prestige.
In 1954, when the Algerian War broke out, he escaped from the Barberousse prison (''Prison de Barberousse'') where he was serving a two-year sentence for attempted murder.
FLN, Front de libération nationale (National Liberation Front), militants explained to him that Algeria was a victim of
colonialism
Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colony, colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose the ...
and recruited him to their cause.
He later escaped again after being transferred to a prison in Damiette, now known as
Aïn Deheb
Aïn Deheb is a town and commune in Tiaret Province in northwestern Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algi ...
. He returned to Algiers and made contact a few months later with
Yacef Saadi
Saadi Yacef (; 20 January 1928 – 10 September 2021) was an Algerian independence fighter, serving as a leader of the National Liberation Front during his country's war of independence. He was a Senator in Algeria's Council of the Nation unti ...
.
Activity within the FLN
![Les poseuses de bombes 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Les_poseuses_de_bombes_2.jpg)
In late 1955,
Ali la Pointe was introduced to Yacef Saâdi, who was the deputy of
Larbi Ben M'hidi, the head of the FLN for Algiers (aka ''Zone autonome d'Alger (''autonomous zone of Algiers'')'' during the Algerian War.
Yacef Saâdi "decided to test him", trusting him with the execution of a snitch on the evening of their meeting.
Recruited, according to Marie-Monique Robin for his "formidable qualities as a killer",
he became, according to Christopher Cradock and M.L.R. Smith, "the chief assassin" for FLN.
He was notably responsible for what was referred to as a "line up of the Casbah underworld with the nationalist terrorist movement" from an article by
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
. After some figures of the local underworld suspected of being informants were executed, such as Rafai Abdelkader, Said Bud Abbot and Hocine Bourtachi,
he "sowed terror" in the casbah, according to Marie-Monique Robin by applying "revolutionary instructions, such as not allowing drinking alcohol or smoking".
On 30 September 1956, two bombs exploded in two public places in Algiers, the ''Milk Bar'' and the ''Cafétaria'', killing four and wounding fifty-two. They were planted by
Zohra Drif
Zohra Drif Bitat ( ar, زهرة ظريف بيطاط, Zuhra Ḍrīf Bīṭāṭ, born 28 December 1934) is a retired Algerian lawyer, moudjahid (a militant of the Algerian War of Independence), and the vice-president of the Council of the Nation ...
and
Samia Lakhdari Samia may refer to:
People
* Samia (name)
* Samiya (disambiguation)
* Samia tribe, a Luhya tribe in western Kenya and southeastern Uganda
* Samia (musician)
Places
* North Samia and South Samia, two administrative locations in Funyula division of ...
respectively, while a third bomb, planted by
Djamila Bouhired
Djamila Bouhired ( ar, جميلة بوحيرد, born c. 1935) is an Algerian militant. Bouhired is a nationalist who opposed the French colonial rule of Algeria. She was raised in a middle-class family by a Tunisian mother and an Algerian father ...
at the
Air France
Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global a ...
terminal, did not explode. These events mark the beginning of the “
Battle of Algiers”. These three women were, along with
Djamila Bouazza, the ones who planted a bomb on 26 January 1957 at the ''Coq Hardi'' brewery, part of the “bombs network” headed by Yacef Saâdi, assisted by Ali la Pointe.
Legacy
He was portrayed by
Brahim Haggiag in the film ''
The Battle of Algiers
ar, Maʿrakat al-Jazāʾir
, director = Gillo Pontecorvo
, producer = Antonio MusuSaadi Yacef
, writer = Franco Solinas
, story = Franco SolinasGillo Pontecorvo
, starring = Jean MartinSaadi YacefBrahim H ...
''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:La Pointe, Ali
1930 births
1957 deaths
Members of the National Liberation Front (Algeria)
People of the Algerian War
Algerian guerrillas killed in action
Deaths by explosive device
People from Miliana
Algerian revolutionaries