Defectors from the French army to 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 ...

, pejoratively called hizb França (the party of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

) or abbreviated DAF (''défecteurs de l'armée française'') constitute an important faction in the

Algerian army french: Armée nationale populaire , image = ANP.png , alt = , caption = People's National Army emblem , image2 = , alt2 = , caption2 = , motto = ...

, and more generally the Algerian power structure, including such key generals as

Khaled Nezzar Major-General Khaled Nezzar ( ar, خالد نزّار; born 25 December 1937) is an Algerian general and former member of the High Council of State of Algeria. He was born in the ''douar'' of Thlet, in Seriana in the Batna region. His father, ...

Mohamed Lamari Lt. Gen. Mohamed Lamari (7 June 1939 – 13 February 2012) ( ar, محمد العماري) was Chief of Staff of the Algerian army during most of the Algerian Civil War. Personal life He was born on 7 June 1939 in Biskra, to a family originall ...

Larbi Belkheir Maj.-Gen. Larbi Belkheir ( ar, العربي بلخير) was a noted Algerian retired general and political figure. Biography He was born in Frenda (now in Tiaret Province) in 1938, and joined the French army, reaching the rank of second lieute ...

, Mohamed Touati, and Abbas Gheziel. This faction gained power after 1988, especially during the

Algerian Civil War The Algerian Civil War ( ar, rtl=yes, الْحَرْبُ الْأَهْلِيَّةُ الجَزَائِرِيَّةُ, al-Ḥarb al-ʾAhlīyah al-Jazāʾirīyah) was a civil war in Algeria fought between the Algerian government and various Is ...

. A major military reshuffle in 2000 further increased its influence (with the promotion of such Lamari protégés as Fodhil Cherif and

Said Bey Said Bey is a Moroccan actor and humorist. Filmography * ''Jesus'' (1999) * ''The Man Who Sold the World'' (2009)' * ''Femmes en miroires'' (2011)' * '' Road To Kabul'' (2011) * Son of God (2014) * ''Urgent Urgent may refer to: * Urgent (A ...

) at the expense of ALN fighters who had been trained in Arab countries, rather than in the French army (a faction notably including Liamine Zeroual and

Tayeb Derradji Tayeb may refer to: People ; Given name *Tayeb Abdallah (died 2007), former Sudanese president of the Sudanese football (soccer) club Al-Hilal *Tayeb Belaiz (born 1948), Algerian jurist and politician *Tayeb Berramla (born 1985), Algerian football ...

.) Several of the main leaders of this faction have now retired, but remain influential. This faction is generally considered eradicationist (favouring no dialogue with Islamist guerrillas in the context of the

). Detractors claim that this faction has longstanding close ties with the French government, and question the sincerity of their last-minute changes of side in the

Algerian War of Independence The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...

. A particularly notable detractor, ex-Prime Minister

Abdelhamid Brahimi Abdelhamid Brahimi ( ar, عبد الحميد براهيمي; 2 April 1936 – 15 August 2021) was an Algerian politician who first served as minister of planning before becoming the prime minister of Algeria under Chadli Bendjedid Chadli Be ...

, assigns them the primary blame for the coup of 1992 and the ensuing

.Aux origines de la tragédie algérienne (1958-2000): Témoignage sur "Hizb França"
, Abdelhamid Brahimi, Hoggar Press, 2000.

References

{{Algerian War National Liberation Front (Algeria)