PRESS

Former Prime Minister Belaïd Abdessalam passes away

ALGIERS- War veteran and former Prime Minister Bélaïd Abdessalam passed away at the age of 92, the Ministry of Mujahedeen said Saturday.

Born in 1928 in the province of Setif, the deceased was one of the leading activists in the national movement. He also was one of the founding members of the Association of Muslim Students in North Africa (1951-1953) as well as a founding member of the Union of Algerian Muslim Students in 1953.

Late Belaïd Abdesselam joined the revolution in 1955 and took part, along with a group of students, in the foundation of the General Union of the Algerian Muslim Students (UGEMA), thus contributing to the launch of the student strike call on May 19, 1956.

He then joined the Revolutionary Command in the West base where several missions were entrusted to him.
In 1958, the deceased was assigned several missions within the Provisional Government, as assistant to the minister of social and cultural affairs, before being appointed in 1961 as a collaborator in the GPRA Cabinet.

Just after cease-fire, Abdessalam was appointed in charge of Economic Affairs.
After independence, Belaïd Abdesselam held senior positions with the State. He was head of the Algerian delegation in the Algerian-French Hydrocarbon agreements, Director General (DG) of Sonatrach (1964-1965), Minister of Industry and Energy (1965-1977), ministers of light industries (1977-1979), and finally head of government (1992-1993).
The deceased wrote several articles in political, economic and historical journals.