Zohra Drif
Zohra Drif-Bitat | |
---|---|
Born | Zohra Drif 1934 |
Nationality | Algerian |
Alma mater | University of Algiers |
Occupation | Lawyer (now Retired) |
Organization | Armée de Libération Nationale (ALN) |
Movement | Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) |
Spouse | Rabah Bitat (1962-2000) |
Zohra Drif Bitat (Arabic: زهرة ظريف بيطاط, born in 1934) is a retired Algerian lawyer and the vice-president of the Council of the Nation, the upper house of the Algerian Parliament.[1] She is best known for her activities on behalf of the National Liberation Front during the Algerian War of Independence.
Milk Bar Café bombing
Drif was twenty years old and a student in the Faculty of Law at the University of Algiers when, on 30 September 1956, she set a bomb in the Milk Bar cafe, which killed three French youths and injured dozens in one of the first actions of the Battle of Algiers. She was captured in early October 1957 along with Saadi Yacef, reportedly her boyfriend at the time, at No. 3 Rue Caton in the Casbah of Algiers by Lt. Colonel Jeanpierre and his 1st Foreign Parachute Regiment.[2] In August 1958, she was sentenced to 20 years of hard labour by the military tribunal of Algiers for terrorism, and was locked up in the women's section of the Barbarossa prison. She published a 20-page treatise, entitled The death of my brothers (French: la Mort de mes frères), in 1960, while still in prison. She was pardoned by Charles de Gaulle on the occasion of Algerian independence in 1962.[3]
Personal life
Drif is the widow of former Algerian president Rabah Bitat.[1] She is reported to be a close friend of current president Abdelaziz Bouteflika.[3]
See also
- Café Wars
- The Battle of Algiers - 1966 film based on real events
References
- ^ a b "Zohra Drif appelle à un grand débat national", El Annabi, 8 February 2011, retrieved 23 February 2011
- ^ "Capture of the Chief", Time Magazine, 7 October 1957, retrieved 4 October 2006
- ^ a b Maclean, William (28 September 2005). "50 years on, Algiers bomber sees US "error" in Iraq". Reuters. Retrieved 4 October 2006.
External links
- 1934 births
- Living people
- People from Tissemsilt
- Members of the National Liberation Front (Algeria)
- African women in war
- Members of the Council of the Nation
- People of the Algerian War
- Algerian women in politics
- Recipients of French presidential pardons
- Algerian prisoners and detainees
- Prisoners and detainees of France
- Algerian guerrillas
- People of the 2010–12 Algerian protests
- Spouses of national leaders
- Women in warfare post-1945
- Algerian politician stubs