Chadli’s memoirs Part I : Benbella pushed Chabani to rebellion

My first steps in politics were conducted by my father, I heard about influential political figures like Messali El Hadj, Ferhat Abbas and Cheikh El Ibrahimi but, as grown up, I didn’t grasp the intricacies of their conflicts with the colonial administration. The political discourse was beyond my knowledge and was forced to learn on my own.

• My political process started in 1947 as a supervisor in the elections that took place after the endorsement by the French parliament of the Algerian special status that was rejected by the nationalist parties.
• I was selected by a French teacher who was in charge of the polling station in the locality of Oueled Diab to sway people to vote for the party’s program and prevent vote rigging. That was my first experience in the partisan militancy.
• On the voting day, an Algerian collaborator ( Gaid) was trying to influence the electors’ votes , so I asked him to leave arguing that he was not allowed in. He insulted me and vowed to take revenge.
• The man lodged a complaint against me at the gendarmerie that was tracking me for days in order to arrest me. I was forced then to leave for the province of Annaba in a car “ Traxion” lent by the parliamentarian Bey Laggoun who a was a family friend.
• The notion of independence was a somber concept but we were deeply convinced. This state of awareness was propelled by the hard living conditions we were suffering and the extreme oppression of the colonial administration. Foreigners like Italians, Maltese, and Jews were given all the facilities to find jobs and invest while the Algerians were spoiled from their rights and I was one of them.
• Meeting with Amirouche
• I was treating my wounded leg when I met Amirouche at Ahmed Kebaily shop. He returned from Tunisia in 1956 after failing short in his mission to stabilize the deteriorating situation in the Aures region. He was very keen on unifying the ranks among the “ Moudjahidins” and conducted several initiatives in the first region and Tunisia.
• On his way to Tunisia in 1959 to set up the issue with, then, the temporary government, he died along with the colonel Si Lhaoues in “Djebel Thamer” in shady circumstances. Many years after, I was the man who ordered the excavation of the two bodies that were buried in the national gendarmerie headquarters and ordered their burial in the martyrs’ square.
• The conflict that broke out in summer 1962 with the besiege of the capital city Algiers by the National Army Command reduced to nil the dreams of those who wanted to engulf the country in a civil war. The slogan” 7 years is enough” was stronger than the weapons language.
• It was regretful that brothers who were fighting side by side against the colonial forces would point arms to each other, but a solution should be found even if it was radical. The first independent Algerian government was proclaimed in the end of September 1962 and chaired by Ahmed Benbella.
• Houari Boumediene took five ministries including the defence one, but Benbella was reluctant to head the council at the beginning. His reluctance was due to his fear of appearing before his opponents and the public opinion as a puppet in the hand of the military especially that his major rivals , Ait Ahmed and Boudiaf were always accusing him of willing to take leadership.
• Chabani’s rebellion
• Chaabani was the commander of the fourth district and his conflict with Boumediene was due to the fact that this one entrusted the defectors from the French army with leading the sensitive departments at the defence ministry. Chabani was considering them as a threat for the stability of the country.
• Willing to replace him by Ammar Melah, Chabani has rejected all the calls sent by Benbella to join him in Algiers. The conflict between the two men reached stalemate despite several interventions from influential political and military figures to sort it out.
• Many thought that Chabani was executed by Houari Boumediene, but the late president expressed himself on the issue in an interview made to the Egyptian journalist Lotfi El Khouli saying” Benbella pushed the brother Chabani to this tragic end. He did his best to delay the conflict for over a year. He appointed the two colonels Chabani, Zebir and I at the political bureau… In doing so, Benbella wanted to tighten Chabani who knew that and refused to join his post”.
• But I have to give my own testimony over the issue. Benbella was always plotting since we put him on power. That was his nature and never changed since… He was always creating dissentions among us. Chabani was an ambitious officer due to his young age.