Abdelhafid Boussouf was an Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

n nationalist and a leader of the Front de libération nationale

Front de Libération Nationale

Front de Libération Nationale may refer to:* National Liberation Front , a socialist political party founded in 1954 for independence from France for Algeria...

 (FLN) during the Algerian war of independence

Algerian War of Independence

The Algerian War was a conflict between France and Algerian independence movements from 1954 to 1962, which led to Algeria's gaining its independence from France...

 (1954–62). He was a member of the GPRA

GPRA

GPRA may refer to:*Government Performance and Results Act*Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic...

 exile government, serving as minister of armaments (Ministre de l'armement et des liaisons générales). This body, the MALG, after independence evolved into the Securité militaire (SM), or military intelligence, which eventually emerged as a pillar of the military-backed regimes of Algeria, and whose successor organization (DRS) remains of overwhelming importance in Algerian politics today. After independence, however, he personally left politics and remained outside of the governing circle to pursue a career in business.