Abdelbaki Sahraoui () (August 25 1910 - July 11 1995) was a co-founder of the

Islamic Salvation Front The Islamic Salvation Front (; , FIS) was an Islamist political party in Algeria. The party had two major leaders representing its two bases of its support; Abbassi Madani appealed to pious small businessmen, and Ali Belhadj appealed to the a ...

(FIS) in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

Biography

Sahraoui was born in 1910 in

Constantine, Algeria Constantine (), also spelled Qacentina or Kasantina, is the capital of Constantine Province in northeastern Algeria. During Roman times it was called Cirta and was renamed "Constantina" in honour of Emperor Constantine the Great. Located somewh ...

. In 1926, he joined the circle of Sheikh Mubarak el-Mili. Five years later, he was conscripted by the French army, where he spent two years. He then moved to

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

, where he was involved with the Muslim Scholars' Society. In 1990, he helped found the FIS; after the

Algerian Civil War The Algerian Civil War (), known in Algeria as the Black Decade (, ), was a civil war fought between the Algerian government and various Islamist rebel groups from 11 January 1992 (following a 1992 Algerian coup d'état, coup negating an Islami ...

began, he fled to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, from which he preached in favor of armed struggle—

jihad ''Jihad'' (; ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God in Islam, God ...

—against the Algerian government. Sahraoui opposed the extension of the ''jihad'' to France."Rachid Ramda jugé pour l'ultime procès des attentats de 1995," in ''

Libération (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968 in France, May 1968. Initially positioned on the far left of Fr ...

'', October 1, 200
read on-line
On 11 July 1995, he was assassinated by the

Armed Islamic Group The Armed Islamic Group (GIA, from ; ) was one of the two main Islamist insurgent groups that fought the Algerian government and army in the Algerian Civil War. It was created from smaller armed groups following the 1992 military coup and ar ...

. His death was followed by a series of bombings in France.

References

Sources

Interview
1910 births 1995 deaths People from Constantine, Algeria Islamic terrorism in France Terrorism deaths in France Algerian Islamists Assassinations in France People murdered in France {{islam-bio-stub