Algeria has announced three days of national mourning yesterday after the death of 84-year-old Liamine Zeroual, the former soldier who served as the country’s president from 1994 to 1999.
Born on 3 July 1941 in the eastern city of Batna, Zeroual served in Algeria’s National Liberation Army (FLN), which fought for independence from French rule.
After leading a transitional administration during a later civil war, Zeroual organised the country’s first multi-party presidential election in 1995, winning by a wide margin.
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In 1998, however, he unexpectedly cut short his five-year term, making way for Abdelaziz Bouteflika to succeed him and run the country for 20 years.
Zeroual remained respected in retirement. Algeria’s presidency said he had died at a military hospital in Algiers after a serious illness and that flags would fly at half-mast across the country.
