Abdelhamid Mehri, passes a way

Abdelhamid Mehri, former minister at the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic (GPRA) and a great figure of the national movement, died Monday at 85 at Mohamed-Seghir Nekache hospital in Ain Naadja, Algiers, announced his family. He will be laid to rest Tuesday after Al-Asr Prayer at Sidi-Yahia cemetery in Algiers. Born on 3 April 1926 in El-Harrouch (Skikda, 510-km east of Algier), late Mehri joined Algerian People Party (PPA), then the Movement for the Triumph of Democratic Liberties (MTLD). He was arrested in November 1954 and remained in prison until April 1955. Few months later, he became member of the external delegation of the National Liberation Front (FLN), and also a member of the National Council of Algerian Revolution (CNRA), then a member of the Committee of Coordination and Enforcement (CCE). When the GPRA was formed, he was appointed Minister of North African Affairs, and then Minister of Social and Cultural Affairs. Abdelhamid Mehri was also Minister of Information, and ambassador to several countries. His last official post was FLN secretary general from 1988 to 1996.