Amar Ouzegane

Amar Ouzegane (Tamaziɣt: ⵄⴻⵎⵎⴰⵕ ⵓⵣⴻⴳⴳⴰⵏ; ; 7 March 1910 in Algiers – 5 March 1981 in Algiers) was an Algerian politician. Ouzegane became a leader of the Algerian Communist Party, but later broke with the party and became a nationalist. After independence, he served as a Minister.

Biography Ouzagane came from a family of Kabylean peasants who had lost their possessions after the 1871 insurrection against the French. He studied in a Quranic school, and later went on to get a French education. He sold newspapers, and later got a job at the Post. He joined the Communist Youth in 1930. Moreover, he was appointed second in command of the Communist Youth in Algiers, but in reality (as the Algiers First Secretary Ben Ali Boukort was imprisoned) he led the organization. Ouzegane was the main architect behind the FLN programme (the Soummam platform) adopted in 1956. He was jailed in April 1958, and remained in prison until October 1962 when hostilities with the French ended. Ouzegane argued in favour of fusing socialist and Islamic thinking, stating that ...the incompatibility of Islam and socialism is a false image of Marxist theory. Their coexistence reflects a socio-economic reality and expresses a certain relationship of forces within the underdeveloped countries. ... We need a new kind of jihad to achieve the Algerian revolution, the triumph of national democracy, the conquest of social justice.

After independence, he became a member of the first Algerian National Assembly and became Minister for Agriculture and Land Reforms in the first Algerian government. He later held other Minister of State positions in subsequent Algerian governments.