Interview- Islamist Bouali’s brother: Mustapha Bouali chose to run away because he did not trust regime

Sid Ahmed Bouali, the brother of the first Islamist who used arms against the regime and founded an armed movement to topple it told Echorouk in an interview about war veterans’ role in convincing Mustapha Bouali to stop his acts and the sufferance of his family following his killing.

Could you introduce yourself?

My name is Sid Ahmed Bouali, Mustapha Bouali’s brother. I was born in July 1951 in Algiers.

Who is your brother Mustapha Bouali?

During the liberation war, my brother Mustapha Bouali fought the French occupation and carried out many actions with well-known veterans.

What did he do after the independence?

He did not hesitate to join the Socialist Forces Front (FFS) and used arms with Bouregaa against President Ben Bela. In 1967, hwas appointed as coordinator the FLN’s coordinator in Cheraga but he was dismissed because Gaid Ahmed did not like his speech.

What did Mustapha say in his speech?

Mustapha talked about widows and martyr’s daughters who worked as maids for Harkis (Algerians who served the French during the war) and Harkis who were appointed as senior officials in the Algerian independent state. The day after the speech, my brother was not allowed to enter the font federation and he was dismissed.

How did he start his preaching activity in mosques?

When he was working at a company, he gave lectures in a mosque in Achour in Algiers about social scourges. Authorities did not like some of his lectures.

What did he talk about in his lectures?

He fought social scourges in general.

What did he say about authorities?

He called on authorities to adopt Sharia in ruling.

Did he preach for violence?

No, he did not call for violence at all. He criticized the situation at that time. He was summoned by the security forces from time to time but he was not arrested neither was he asked to stop his lectures.

How was his relation with Ahmed Sahnoune, Ali benhadj and Mahfoud Nahnah?

At that time, Ali Benhadj was young and he attended the lectures at the mosque in Achour. He had a strong relation with my brother. Mustapha attended lectures given by Ahmed Sahnoune and Mahfoud Nahnah as well.

What about Abbassi Madani?

Abbassi Madani was abroad. When he entered Algeria, he looked for my brother.

Why wasn’t Mustapha arrested in the Fac centrale’s events?

Mustapha was not arrested because he did not participate in the events because he had no idea what was happening inside universities.

How did the conflict start between Mustapha and authorities?

Security forces started bothering my brother in 1982. We noticed that they attended his lectures wearing civilian clothes. One day, he was chased by armed civilians. They blocked his way. Then, he ran away to the company where he worked. Workers went out to defend him and he managed to escape secretly.

Where was he hiding?

He was hiding at the family’s home for a short time. Then, he went to Bouguerra mountain through a man called Hamoudi Hadi. This man pushed my brother to use arms. Currently, he works as an imam in France.

How did your brother get arms?

He had kept his arm with a friend of him since the revolution.

How did the family react?

On the first day, Mustapha came home and told me about what happened. He said: “they wanted to kill me. I will always avoid policemen but if I meet them and they attack me, I will attack them as well. I have no other choice because they want to kidnap me.”

But you should have convinced him that violent attitude is dangerous.

We tried to convince him but we failed. We could not put pressure on him. Hamoudi Hadi and other people who attended his lectures helped him.

Who was with him in the mountain?

I visited them there. They were three men: my brother and two friends of Hadi Hamoudi. My brother lost trust in authorities and considered them as killers.

How did you go to the mountain and know about their place?

We met all at the family’s home and we agreed on the necessity of convincing Mustapha to come back from the mountain. Ten days after he had gone to the mountain, I met Hadi Hamoudi and told him some war veterans wanted to talk to him in emergency.

Why did he choose armed acts?

He wanted to change the regime and he used arms for self-defense only.

I convinced him to come and talk to war veterans but I had no deal with them about that.

What did you do to convince war veterans to talk to him?

I talked to Si Rabeh, the husband of war veteran Djamila Boubacha. I asked him to convince my brother to leave the mountain.

When did that happen?

It happened in January 1983 before we had been arrested in December 1983.

What did the meeting with the war veteran come up with?

The war veteran was convinced to meet Mustapha. He went to see him with a group of war veterans. They asked to see Mustapha alone in a forest.

What happened there?

I was keeping watch on Mustapha’s two companions. A war veteran came to me and asked them to leave. I did not understand what happened but they went and I came back to the meeting in the forest but I found no one.

What did you do?

I walked 3 kilometers in the forest until I arrived to my sister’s house. I was reassured that my brother was with good people.

The day after, I went to Mustapha’s wife and told her Mustapha would come at any time. She prepared food and Mustapha came.

What happened between Mustapha and the war veterans?

They asked him to accompany them. They went to war veteran Boureguaa’s home where they talked. He spent the night there with them. In the morning, they had an appointment at the war veterans’ organization. Then, Mustapha was taken to Hadi Khadiri who was waiting for them.

You mean Hadi Khadiri, the national police chief at that time?

Yes. The war veterans organized a meeting with him to solve the problem definitively. Khadiri received them in his office. Mustapha and him talked about lectures in mosques. Khadiri told him: “go and give your lectures. No one will bother you anymore.” The policemen who attended his lectures apologized to him.

To be continued.