Ahmed Ben Bella
Ben Bella, Ahmed
(äkhmĕd` bĕn bĕl`lä), 1919–2012, Algerian statesman. After World War II he joined the Algerian nationalist movement and soon became a leader of its underground paramilitary faction. He later (1952–56) served as director of the movement. Imprisoned (1956–62) for his activities, he became Algeria's first premier after independence was declared in 1962 and was elected president in 1963. In 1965, Ben Bella's government was toppled in a coup led by Houari BoumedienneBoumedienne, Houari, 1932?–78, president and prime minister of Algeria (1965–78). While studying in Cairo during the early 1950s he joined a group of expatriate Algerian nationalists that included Ahmed Ben Bella.
..... Click the link for more information. , and he was kept under house arrest until 1980, when he went into exile (1980–90) in Switzerland.