Mohammed Seddik Benyahia or Ben Yahia ( ar, محمد الصديق بن يحيى; January 30, 1932 – May 3, 1982) was an Algerian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

and a militant nationalist during the war in Algeria. After independence he was Minister of Information (1967–1971), Higher Education (1971–1977), Finance (1977–1979), and Foreign Affairs (1979–1982).

Early life

He was born on January 30, 1932, in

Jijel Jijel ( ar, جيجل), the classical Igilgili, is the capital of Jijel Province in north-eastern Algeria. It is flanked by the Mediterranean Sea in the region of Corniche Jijelienne and had a population of 131,513 in 2008. Jijel is the administr ...

. During the Algerian war, he took an active part in the struggle for independence of his country. He was secretary general of the presidency of the provisional government of the Republic of Algeria ( GPRA) and a member of the Algerian delegation in negotiations with the French government in

Evian Evian ( , ; , stylized as evian) is a French company that bottles and commercialises mineral water from several sources near Évian-les-Bains, on the south shore of Lake Geneva. It produces over 2 billion plastic bottles per year. Today, Evia ...

in 1962. He was responsible for chairing the meeting of CNRA in Tripoli (Libya) in 1962. After the independence of his country, he held the post of ambassador to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He led the Algerian team that brokered the

Algiers Accords The Algiers Accords of January 19, 1981 was a set of agreements between the United States and Iran to resolve the Iran hostage crisis, brokered by the Algerian government and signed in Algiers on January 19, 1981. The crisis arose from the takeo ...

Ministries he held

* Minister of Information from 1967 to 1971, When he organized the first

Pan-African Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous and diaspora peoples of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the movement ext ...

Festival in 1968. * Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research from 1971 to 1977. *

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

from 1977 to 1979. * Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1979 till his death.

Death

On 3 May 1982, his plane was shot down on the Iran-Turkey border during his mediation mission in the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Ba'athist Iraq, Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations S ...

. Both Iran and Iraq rejected responsibility.

Early life

Ministries he held

Death

References

Further reading