Revelation: Algerian Generals Planned to Assassinate Chadli
In an article published on May 8, 2025, L’Express revealed that Algerian generals not only sought François Mitterrand’s approval before suspending the electoral process in January 1992: they also had to guarantee that President Chadli Bendjedid would not be assassinated. This promise made to the French side constitutes a serious revelation, a non-assassination clause, suggesting that Chadli’s elimination had already been considered as early as December 1991.
Jean-Charles Marchiani, a former French intelligence officer, confirmed the existence of contacts between the generals and the Élysée between the two rounds of elections. According to him, Mitterrand gave his approval “in a sibylline but very clear manner” to interrupt the electoral process.
On January 11, 1992, Chadli was forced to resign. The next day, tanks entered Algiers. The generals then claimed to respect “human rights”, including the life of Chadli, citing his personal ties with Mitterrand and Hubert Védrine.
Seven months later, on June 29, 1992, Mohamed Boudiaf, Chairman of the High Council of State of the Algerian Republic, was assassinated live on television. The country plunged into a civil war that lasted ten years. Years later, his son, Nacer Boudiaf, would publicly accuse Generals Khaled Nezzar, Mohamed Mediene, Larbi Belkheir and Smaïn Lamari of orchestrating the assassination.
Smaïn Lamari died on August 28, 2007, Larbi Belkheir on January 28, 2010, while Khaled Nezzar was indicted in August 2023 by the Swiss Federal Public Prosecutor for war crimes and crimes against humanity. His trial, scheduled in Bellinzona between June 17 and July 19, 2024, did not take place: he died on December 29, 2023. Mohamed Mediene, still alive, returned to power in 2020 with his former men, including Chafik Mesbah, maintaining central influence during what many observers describe as the most authoritarian period in independent Algeria’s history.
Abderrahmane Fares.
