Maj.-Gen. Larbi Belkheir ( ar, العربي بلخير) was a noted

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

n retired general and political figure.

Biography

He was born in

Frenda Frenda is a town and commune in Tiaret Province in northwestern Algeria. It is best known for ancient Berber monumental tombs known as Jedars. Notable people * Larbi Belkheir - Algerian politician * Abdelkader Benayada - Algerian association ...

(now in

Tiaret Province Tiaret ( ar, ولاية تيارت) is a province ('' wilaya'') of Algeria. The capital is Tiaret. History The province was created from El Asnam department and Tiaret department in 1974. In 1984 Tissemsilt Province is carved out of its territo ...

) in 1938, and joined the French army, reaching the rank of

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army unt ...

. After independence in 1962, he was sent to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

for further training. After returning, he became chief of staff at

Ouargla Ouargla (Berber: Wargrən, ar, ورقلة) is the capital city of Ouargla Province in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria. It has a flourishing petroleum industry and hosts one of Algeria's universities, the University of Ouargla. The commune o ...

, then for the entire 2nd Military Region (around

Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

). In 1975, he became director of ENITA, a military technical institute at

Bordj El Bahri Bordj El Bahri is a municipality of the city of Algiers in northern Algeria. Bordj El Bahri is on the peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peni ...

. He was close to the next president,

Chadli Bendjedid Chadli Bendjedid ( ar, الشاذلي بن جديد; ALA-LC: ''ash-Shādhilī bin Jadīd''; 14 April 1929 – 6 October 2012) was the third President of Algeria and an Algerian Nationalist. His presidential term of office ran from 9 February 19 ...

, whom he helped choose; under Bendjedid's rule, he became head of the High Council for Security, secretary-general of the presidency, and head of the Cabinet, and attained the rank of major-general. From 18 October 1991 to 19 July 1992, during Algeria's first free elections, he was Minister of the Interior. However, in 1992, dissatisfied with the election results, he helped lead the military coup that deposed

and annulled the elections, starting 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 I ...

. In 1999, he helped

Bouteflika Bouteflika is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Abdelaziz Bouteflika (1937–2021), Algerian politician *Saïd Bouteflika Saïd Bouteflika ( ar, سعيد بوتفليقة; ber, ⵙⵄⵉⴷ ⴰⵠⵓⵜⴼⵉⵇⴰ; born Janu ...

become president, and shortly afterwards, in October 2000, became head of his Cabinet. In August 2005, he was appointed ambassador to

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

. In 2001, Belkheir was accused by Hichem Abboud of ordering the assassination of FFS activist Ali Mecili in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

in 1987; he responded by unsuccessfully suing Abboud for libel. In December 2003, a refugee, Mehdi Mosbah, filed a suit against Belkheir in Paris for torture, on the basis that he had headed the Interior Ministry at the time and was thus responsible for police conduct; however, Belkheir left France soon after. He died on 28 January 2010, Ain Naadja, and was buried at

Ben Aknoun Ben Aknoun ( ar, بن عكنون) is a commune of Algiers Province and a suburb of the city of Algiers in northern Algeria. As of the 2008 census, the commune's population was 18,838. The Ministry of Finance has its head office in the ''Immeubl ...

cemetery.

References

Le General Larbi Belkheir

Le Matin, 4 septembre 2001
Criminal Lawsuits Against Algeria’s Generals
Algeria-Watch, January 2004
Algeria: Political forces
The Economist, 30 Sept. 2005. *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belkheir, Larbi 1938 births 2010 deaths People from Frenda Defectors from the French army to the ALN Ambassadors of Algeria to Morocco Algerian generals Interior ministers of Algeria 21st-century Algerian people