Colonel Ammar Benouda: “President Boumedienne ordered expulsion of Nezzar from the Army because of his evenings with ripper Bigeard”

Colonel Ammar Benouda, the last living member of the historical “Group of 22”, has sharply reacted to the recent remarks made at Taref University by General Khaled Nezzar saying: “I challenge him to publish any official document signed by the name of Ammar Benouda or late President Houari Boumedienne, allowing the loading of Algerian weaponry from Matrouh port in Egypt after Algeria’s hard-won independence.”

In response to the former Defense Minister, General Khaled Nezzar, Colonel Ammar Benouda, accused the latter  him of inconsistency in his statements about the weapons issue, in view of what he stated in his book published some years ago, and what he said the day before yesterday at Al Taref University , adding that Nezzar has never sent a ship to load weapons from Alexandria in Egypt destined to Algeria as he falsely claimed.

He asserted that the credit for that operation should be bestowed on the Naval Intelligence secretary, with the docking of five rented ships laden with weapons in Algeria, three of which were emptied in the capital Algiers, and the fourth one in the eastern port of Annaba, as well as a fifth one which exploded there, stressing in this regard that he will dwell on this issue by providing further details shortly.

Colonel Ammar Benouda revealed in an exclusive interview with “Echorouk” that he is well aware of the reasons for the hatred harboured by General Nezzar against him and against late President Houari Boumedienne, as the latter, had ordered the expulsion of Khaled Nezzar from the ANP Army before his death, stressing that if Boumediene lived on, Nezzar wouldn’t have reached the position of today.

“Late President Boumedienne’s injunction to eject Khaled Nezzar from the ANP Army was based on a fact-finding report received from the Algerian security intelligence officers in Paris, to the effect that General Khaled Nezzar used to spend evenings with offender French General “Marcel Bigeard” in his home, who was notoriously known for his harsh repressive practices meted out to Algerians during the Algerian Revolution, and this horrendous fact angered President Boumedienne to a large degree”, Colonel Ammar Benouda underscored.