Ferhat Abbas

Ferhat Abbas (; ALA-LC: ; 24 August 1899 – 24 December 1985) (Some sources state that the date of his birth was 24 October 1899.) Over time, he became a revolutionary Algerian nationalist. He remained active in politics as a member of the Algerian Assembly through 1955. During these years he was arrested twice. His continuing efforts as a moderate nationalist did not succeed and he fled to Cairo, in 1956. While in Cairo, he worked alongside Ahmed Ben Bella, a fellow revolutionary.

Involvement with FLN As he was opposed to violence, Ferhat kept himself distant from the Algerian War, and continued to try to act as an intermediary to the opposing sides. However, after the French government intensified the war, in 1956, Ferhat joined the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN). He then subsequently joined Ahmed Ben Bella's and Houari Boumédiène's Oujda Group in opposition to the GPRA, which was subsequently dismantled.

Due to Pakistan's support to the cause of Algerian struggle for independence and self-determination, Ferhat Abbas was given a Pakistani diplomatic passport for his foreign travels.

After independence

Algeria gained independence on July 5, 1962, and from September 25, 1962, to September 15, 1963, Ferhat Abbas was president of the constitutional assembly, but this institution was rapidly sidelined by Ben Bella, who had gained the presidency. Abbas resigned in protest at the FLN's decision to write the constitution outside of the constituent assembly's authority. He was subsequently expelled from the FLN, and was then placed under house arrest from 1964 until 1965. Still, he received official recognition in the form of a state decoration, the Medal of Resistance, on October 30, 1984. Abbas died in his sleep on 24 December 1985. He is buried at the El Alia Cemetery.

Writings Articles written in his youth are collected in Le Jeune Algérien: de la colonie vers la province (The Young Algerian: From Colony to Province) (1931). His ideas on democracy and views on history were set out in a series of essays including La nuit coloniale (The Colonial Night) (1962), Autopsie d'une guerre (Autopsy of a War) (1980)