Djelloul Khatib

Djelloul Khatib alias commandant Djelloul (8 October 1936 – 6 February 2017) was a combatant for the Algerian independence and a public servant. During the war of independence he led the efforts towards the professionalization of the National Liberation Army (NLA). He contributed thereafter to building the civil service of newly independent Algeria.

War of Independence

Djelloul Khatib hails from the Casbah of Algiers. In 1956 he participated as a young freedom fighter to the battle of Algiers. He was then transferred to Egypt by the National Liberation Army (NLA) to attend military school. The Suez Crisis broke out just as he reported for duty in Cairo; he was mobilized and participated to the combats in Port-Said.

He was assigned thereafter to the NLA Eastern base along the Algeria-Tunisian border and was promoted to the rank of officer. He then joined the First Supply Company which was tasked with channeling arms and ammunition from the Tunisian border to the mountainous region of Kabylia where the fighting was particularly intense.
File:Mohamed Chabila, Djelloul Khatib et Mouloud Khatib mort au combat avec le Colonel Amirouche en 1959, Tunis 1957.jpg, Mohamed Chebila, Djelloul Khatib and Mouloud Khatib (who died in combat with Col. Amirouche en 1959), Tunis 1957
File:Tahar Zbiri, Mohamed Chebila, Aek Laribi, Djelloul Khatib et Said l'Indochine.jpg, Command Center of the 2nd Battalion, Eastern Base, Circa 1957-58, Tahar Zbiri, Mohamed Chebila, Aek Laribi, Djelloul Khatib and Said "Indochine"
File:Djelloul Khatib et Taib Raffale, Maquis de la Zone Nord,1957.jpg, Djelloul Khatib and Taib "rafale", Eastern Base 1957
During his back and forth crossing the morice line he acted as liaison officer between the NLA general staff and the combat units of the Aures region (also called Wilaya I) and Kabylia (Wilaya III). One of his initial missions was to link with Colonel Amirouche, considered a hero of the independence war.

As part of the efforts to increase the international visibility of the struggle for independence, Khatib helped in securing the transfer of media reporters from the Tunisian border to the combat units of the interior. In particular he worked with BBC reporter and Oxford scholar Nevill Barbour, with Stevan Labudovic from the Yugoslav media agency Filmske Novosti, with German war photographer Dirk Alvermann and with Italian journalist from the Europeo Magazine, Nino Pulejo. He also helped building up, together with other young officers, the LNA radio communication team.
File:Morice Ligne Djelloul Khatib.jpg, Morice Line, Circa 1958-1959
File:Bensalem, ligne Morice face au chemin de fer de l'Ouenza Djelloul Khatib.jpg, An NLA Team inspects the Morice Line by the Ouenza railway track. Circa 1958-59. The photo features Abderrahmane Bensalem, one of the senior commander of the Eastern Base.
File:Crossing of the Morice Ligne by an NLA soldier, Circa 1957, Djelloul Khatib.jpg, NLA soldier crosses the Morice Line

File:Service de Transmission, base de l'Est, 1958.jpg, Transmission group, National Liberation Army, Eastern Base, 1957
By 1958 Djelloul Khatib was named Secretary General of the NLA’S Northern Zone Staff and subsequently of the NLA General Staff, under the direct command of Houari Boumediene. During the remaining years of war he led, together with other fellow officers such as Abdelkader Chabou and Slimane Hoffman, the efforts to professionalize the Liberation Army and to strengthen the support bases required to maintain the struggle for independence. He became during these years a close advisor to Boumediene.

Politics

Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Defense and of the Presidency

Once Algerian independence was achieved, Khatib at the age of 26, was appointed as Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Defence (1962-1965) and then Chief of Staff of the Presidency (1965-1970). He was tasked by Boumediene, then President of the country, to drive a number of defining initiatives of his administration.

Djelloul Khatib set up the Comedor, a think tank in charge of developing the urban planning of the capital city of Algiers and to which contributed world renowned architects such as Oscar Niemeyer. Khatib also organized the transfer back to the homeland of the ashes of the Emir Abdelkader, an early leader against France colonial invasion in the mid-19th century who died in exile in Damascus.

Khatib also managed the negotiations that led to the signature of the Franco-Algerian agreement of 1968 – which regulates, until now, much of the administrative links between both countries.

He was one of the decision makers that made possible the success of the Algiers panafrican festival of 1969. Khatib was also tasked by President Boumediene to organize the visits to Algiers of personalities such as the Che Gueverra or Senator Edward Kennedy. The meeting with the latter helped prepare the ground for a longstanding partnership between the United States and Algeria in the Hydrocarbons sector.
File:Houari Boumédiène et Djelloul Khatib, Palais du Peuple Alger 1965.jpg, President Boumedienne condecorates Djelloul Khatib, 1965, Algiers
File:Houari Boumédiène Abdelaziz Bouteflika et Djelloul Khatib présentation des lettres de créance de l'ambassadeur des Etats Unis Palais du Peuple Alger 1967.jpg, President Houari Boumediene, Foreign Minister Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Chief of Staff Djelloul Khatib, presentation of diplomatic credentials by the Ambassador of the United States, Palais du Peuple, Algiers, 1967

Oscar Niemeyer

As head of the Comedor, Khatib worked intensely with Oscar Niemeyer. This collaboration made possible the construction of a number of high-profile architectural projects such as the first university since the independence of Algeria in Constantine. Other projects resulting from this cooperation are today, even if not executed, an essential part of Oscar Niemeyer's legacy (Algiers mosque, Algiers Civic Center).

Governor

Khatib was appointed Wali (Governor) of Batna (1973-1976), Constantine – the third largest city of the country (1976-1980) and Oran – the second largest city of the country (1980-1982).

Secretary of State in Charge of the Civil Service

He was named Secretary of State in charge of the Civil Service (1982-1984). During his tenure, he was charged by Prime Minister Abdelghani to coordinate the visit of George H. W. Bush in 1983, the first one of a Vice-President of the United States to Algeria.

Ambassador

Djelloul Khatib was then appointed Ambassador to Argentina (1982-1984). He intensified economic and technical collaboration between both countries, particularly in civil nuclear power. These efforts led by 1989 to the construction in Algeria of the NOUR nuclear research reactor. As a mark of gratitude for strengthening the ties between Argentina and Algeria, President Raul Alfonsin, awarded him with the " :es:Orden del Libertador San Martín".

He was then posted as Ambassador to Spain between 1988 and 1989. There he marshalled the support to build the Maghreb–Europe gas pipeline between Algeria, Morocco and Spain. He also facilitated informal peace talks on the Basque conflict.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khatib, Djelloul
1936 births
2017 deaths
Algerian independence activists
People from Algiers
Algerian military personnel
Algerian diplomats
21st-century Algerian people