Survivor of a Coup

The news was tersely stated on page 3 of Algeria's official government newspaper El Moudjahid: "On the occasion of the 17th anniversary of independence, the measures involving Mr. Ben Bella have been lifted." Thus last week ended the 14-year ordeal of Algeria's first President and its most charismatic revolutionary leader, the onetime hero of Third World leftists. Ousted from the presidency in a 1965 coup by his Defense Minister, Houari Boumedienne, Ahmed ben Bella had been held incommunicado with his wife and two adopted children in a variety of apartments, most recently in a heavily guarded two-room flat in Birtouta, ten miles from Algiers. According to his wife Zohra, the 62-year-old Ben Bella emerged from his ordeal retaining "all his revolutionary fervor."

Ben Bella's release was further proof that President Bendjedid Chadli intends to relax the oppressive political atmosphere that prevailed during Boumedienne's autocratic 13-year rule. Taking over after Boumedienne's death last December, Chadli has released two jailed comrades of Ben Bella from pre-independence days--Ferhat Abbas and Ben Khedda--as well as eleven political prisoners who had been convicted of trying to overthrow Boumedienne in 1969. Associates of Ben Bella were exultant. Said Bachir Boumaza, his onetime Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, who is in exile in Geneva: "We are now entering a new phase in Algeria's history." Still, Ben Bella was unlikely to try a political comeback. Though he is now free to see visitors at his new home in M'sila, 187 miles from Algiers, his movements are restricted to a limited area around the town.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.