Boualem Bessaih

Boualem Bessaih (بوعلام بصايح), born in 1930 in El-Bayadh in Algeria and died on July 28, 2016, is an Algerian politician, diplomat and man of letters, several times minister, and former president of the Constitutional Council. He was, from June 11, 2016 until his death, Minister of State, special advisor to the President of the Republic, personal representative of the Head of State in the Sellal IV government. Boualem Bessaih is a former professor of literature and doctor of literature and human sciences, with bilingual training (Arabic, French). During the Algerian War of Independence, he joined the maquis at the beginning of 1957, occupied important positions in the ranks of the Armed Revolution (one of Boussouf's deputies). He was among the founders of the Algerian secret services: in this capacity, he headed the counter-espionage section of the Didouche base in Tripoli, and was a member of the general secretariat of the National Council of the Algerian Revolution from 1959 to 1962. Upon independence, he was ambassador to several European and Arab capitals (Bern, the Vatican, Cairo, Kuwait, Rabat). In 1971, he was appointed Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1979, he entered the government and held several ministerial positions. He was successively appointed Minister of Information, Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, Minister of Culture and finally Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1988. In this capacity, he participated, within the Algeria-Mor…