The first president of independent Algeria has died at the age of 96.
Reactions continued to pour in from around the world Sunday (April 15th) to the death of Ahmed Ben Bella, Algeria's first post-independence president, APS reported.
Ben Bella was laid to rest Friday in a state funeral, having passed away last Wednesday at age 96. Eight days of national mourning were declared by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who accompanied the deceased to his final resting place at the Carré des Martyrs in the Al Alia cemetery in Algiers.
Ben Bella's funeral was also attended by several other Maghreb leaders. Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki spoke of Ben Bella as "a symbol of activism for Algeria and the third world".
"We empathise with Algeria and have come here to remember the Algerian chouhada (martyrs)," Marzouki said.
Rachid Ghannouchi, head of Tunisia's Ennahda party, said that the people of Algeria had lost "one of the great personalities of the Algerian revolution and one of the great leaders of the Arab world and the third world".
Moroccan King Mohammed VI sent a message of condolence, with Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane heading up a large delegation at Ben Bella's state funeral. "Morocco shares the grief of the Algerian nation," Benkirane said.
Mauritanian Prime Minister Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf headed up his country's delegation. The Mauritanian premier described Ben Bella's death as a "loss for Algeria and the Arab and Muslim worlds, on account of his historic role in the liberation of his country and his struggle for Maghreb and Arab unity."
Ben Bella's body lay in state the day before the funeral at the Palais du Peuple so that members of the public could pay him their last respects.
In a message to Ben Bella's family, President Bouteflika said that Algerians had just lost one of the most valiant leaders of modern Algeria. He was "a wise man among the wise men of the African continent," he added.
The Algerian and foreign press devoted significant column space to the passing of Ben Bella and recalled his career as a campaigner for independence and for his deeds both in Algeria and abroad.
"Farewell to a historic monument" was the page one headline of French-language daily El Watan. "One of the historic leaders of the revolution has passed away on the eve of the commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of independence on 5 July," announced Le Quotidien d'Oran, while the popular Arabic-language daily Echourouk bade a "Farewell to the father of Algerians."
Members of the Algerian public, who turned out en masse to follow the deceased to his final resting place, hailed his memory.
"Ben Bella was among the courageous Algerians who began the war against the French colonists. He is a true icon in the history of Algeria," 69-year-old Mohamed Oulmi told Magharebia. Oulmi was among the thousands of onlookers who braved the rain and the cold on Friday to watch the funeral cortège pass along the Rue Didouche Mourad on the hills of Algiers.
Also looking on were young people such as Amine Lakhal, a 31-year-old public sector worker who did not want to miss the tribute to this symbolic Algerian figure.
"You might not agree with his political ideas, but you can't help but share his devotion to Algerian independence," he said.
© Magharebia.com 2012
