Algeria appoints new army chief to succeed Gaid Salah

Lt.-Gen. Ahmed Salah

Lt. Gen. Ahmed Gaid Salah: successor named

Lt. Gen. Ahmed Gaid Salah: successor named

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Monday appointed Said Chengriha as army chief of staff after Ahmed Gaid Salah, 80, died of a heart attack earlier in the day.

Tebboune also announced a three-day national mourning and a seven-day mourning for military institutions, according to a statement by the presidential office.

In the statement, Tebboune hailed Gaid Salah a “senior war veteran who safeguarded the trust and fulfilled his task amid one of the most difficult periods the country has endured.”

“Algeria has lost one of its heroic men, who had remained faithful since he joined at an early age the ranks of the National Liberation Army”, he said.

The death of Gaid Salah is “a painful and tragic catastrophe,” the president added.

Related News

The death of Gaid Salah comes at a time when Algeria is witnessing political changes amid a wide public protest that has been rocking the country since Feb. 22.

In response to the demands of the protest, Gaid Salah forced former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to resign in early April, and triggered a wide-scale anti-corruption campaign against senior officials and prominent businessmen who were close to the ousted president and his brother Said.

Gaid Salah also insisted on free and fair elections to avoid constitutional vacuum amid growing calls for defining a transitional period. The presidential election was held on Dec. 12 and won by former Prime Minister Abdelmadjid Tebboune, putting an end to a 10-month political crisis.

During his inauguration ceremony on Thursday, Tebboune awarded Gaid Salah the National Merit Medal for “his tremendous efforts and the great role in a sensitive phase in order to establish the supremacy of the constitution and ensure the safety of citizens and the security of the country and its republican institutions.

Load more