Omar Oussedik

Who is Omar Oussedik?

Omar Oussedik was an Algerian nationalist politician and independence leader, born in a Berber family from the Kabylie region.

At about age 22, he was drawn to the movement for Algerian self-rule and independence, joining the Parti du peuple algérien headed by Messali Hadj. Following the Sétif massacre, he was among those who pushed for the formation of an armed clandestine network, the Organisation Spéciale. The OS was soon crushed by France, and in 1948 he was arrested by France and imprisoned in Blida military prison, where he was tortured. After being freed in 1951, he left to live in France, where he was active in the Algerian labor movement.

He returned to join the newly formed Front de libération nationale in 1955, under the nom de guerre of Si Tayeb. During the Algerian War of Independence, he held political missions such as a post in the provisional exile government of the FLN, the Gouvernement Provisoire de la République Algérienne, between 1958 and 1960. He later worked as FLN representative in Guinea, which supported the Algerian revolt.