Amar Ouamrane, nicknamed ''Bu qqaru'', was an

Algerian Algerian may refer to: * Something of, or related to Algeria * Algerian people This article is about the demographic features of the population of Algeria, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, econo ...

revolutionary and an officer of the National Liberation Army (the paramilitary wing of the National Liberation Front) during the Algerian War.

Biography

Ouamrane was born on 19 January 1919 in Frikat, Tizi Ouzou Province, in

French Algeria French Algeria (french: Alger to 1839, then afterwards; unofficially , ar, الجزائر المستعمرة), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of French colonisation of Algeria. French rule in the region began in 1830 with the ...

. Ouamrane joined the ranks of the French army. After obtaining his certificate of primary studies, he entered the military academy of

Cherchell Cherchell (Arabic: شرشال) is a town on Algeria's Mediterranean coast, west of Algiers. It is the seat of Cherchell District in Tipaza Province. Under the names Iol and Caesarea, it was formerly a Roman colony and the capital of the k ...

where he underwent military training and obtained the rank of sergeant. He was arrested on 28 May 1945, after refusing to obey orders to kill in the

Sétif and Guelma massacre The Sétif and Guelma massacre was a series of attacks by French colonial authorities and pied-noir settler militias on Algerian civilians in 1945 around the market town of Sétif, west of Constantine, in French Algeria. In response to French po ...

and deserting, and was transferred to the capital, where he was imprisoned, tortured, and sentenced to death on charges of planning to control the barracks. Then, in 1946, an amnesty was granted to him by General

Georges Catroux Georges Albert Julien Catroux (29 January 1877 – 21 December 1969) was a French Army general and diplomat who served in both World War I and World War II, and served as Grand Chancellor of the Légion d'honneur from 1954 to 1969. Life Cat ...

. He returned to

Kabylia Kabylia ('' Kabyle: Tamurt n Leqbayel'' or ''Iqbayliyen'', meaning "Land of Kabyles", '','' meaning "Land of the Tribes") is a cultural, natural and historical region in northern Algeria and the homeland of the Kabyle people. It is part of th ...

and became responsible within the PPA-MTLD (

Algerian People's Party The Algerian People's Party (in French, Parti du Peuple Algerien PPA), was a successor organization of the North African Star (''Étoile Nord-Africaine''), led by veteran Algerian nationalist Messali Hadj. It was formed on March 11, 1937. In 1936, ...

- Movement for the Triumph of Democratic Liberties) as a deputy to

Krim Belkacem Krim Belkacem ( ar, عبد الكريم بلقاسم or ) (September 14, 1922, Aït Yahia Moussa, Tizi Ouzou Province – October 18, 1970) was the historic leader of the National Liberation Front during the Algerian War. As vice-president of t ...

. His political activity during the 1946 electoral campaign for the municipal elections led to him being arrested and sentenced to death again, but he managed to escape and was forced to go into hiding until the outbreak of the war.Gilbert Meynier: ''Histoire intérieure du FLN 1954 - 1962.'' Paris, 2004, S. 139

Algerian War

On 1 November 1954, at the outbreak of the Algerian War, Amar Ouamrane led military operations in

Draâ Ben Khedda Draâ Ben Khedda (in Berber ⴷⵔⴰ ⴱⴻⵏ ⵅⴻⴷⴷⴰ) is a town and commune in Tizi Ouzou Province in northern Algeria. The territory of the commune is bordered to the north by the Oued Sebaou and crossed by the Oued Bougdoura in its ...

. Ouamrane took part in the in August 1956, at the end of which he rose to the rank of colonel in the

ALN Aluminium nitride ( Al N) is a solid nitride of aluminium. It has a high thermal conductivity of up to 321 W/(m·K) and is an electrical insulator. Its wurtzite phase (w-AlN) has a band gap of ~6 eV at room temperature and has a potent ...

.Martin Evans: ''Algeria: France’s undeclared War''. Oxford, 2012, S. 142, S. 177 In 1957, he was appointed to the CNRA (National Council of the Algerian Revolution) representing Wilaya IV after the arrest of

Rabah Bitat Rabah Bitat ( ar, رابح بيطاط; ALA-LC: ''Rābaḥ Bīṭāṭ''; 19 December 1925 in Aïn Kerma – 10 April 2000) was an Algerian Nationalist and politician. He served as interim President of Algeria from 1978 to 1979, after Houari ...

. From 1960, he was appointed representative of the FLN in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

and then in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

References

1919 births 1992 deaths People of the Algerian War Algerian resistance leaders Algerian prisoners sentenced to death French Army personnel who were court-martialed French Army personnel of World War II Members of the National Liberation Front (Algeria) Defectors from the French army to the ALN {{Algeria-mil-bio-stub People convicted of desertion Prisoners sentenced to death by the French military