Liamine Zéroual
Liamine Zéroual | |
|---|---|
| 9th President of Algeria | |
| In office 31 January 1994 – 27 April, 1999 | |
| Preceded by | Ali Kafi |
| Succeeded by | Abdelaziz Bouteflika |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 3 July 1941 Batna |
Liamine Zéroual (Arabic: اليمين زروال; Berber: Lyamin Ẓerwal) (born 3 July 1941 in Batna) was President of Algeria from 31 January 1994 to 27 April 1999.
He joined the National Liberation Army in 1957, at the age of 16, to fight French rule of Algeria. After independence, he received training in Cairo, Moscow, and Paris. In 1975, he took command of a military school in Batna, then in 1981 of the Cherchell Military Academy. He was then made commander of the Tamanrasset military region in 1982, then the Moroccan border in 1984, then Constantine in 1987. He became a general in 1988, then head of ground forces in 1989. After disagreeing with President Chadli Bendjedid about proposals for army reorganisation, he quit in 1990, and briefly became ambassador to Romania. However, after Bendjedid was deposed by the military coup of January 1992, his career prospects became more promising. In July 1993, he became Minister of Defense; in January 1994 he was promoted to head of the High Council of State. In November 1995, he was elected President, a post which he retained until the next elections.
He was reputed to be politically dialoguist, supporting a partly negotiated solution to the Algerian Civil War.
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