Muhammad Boudiaf

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Muhammad Boudiaf
7th President of Algeria
In office January 11, 1992 – June 29, 1992
Preceded by	Chadli Bendjedid
Succeeded by	Ali Kafi

Born	June 23, 1919 M'sila, Algeria
Died	June 29, 1992 Annaba, Algeria
Spouse	Fatiha Boudiaf

Muhammad Boudiaf (June 23, 1919 – June 29, 1992) (Arabic: محمد بوضياف), also called Si Tayeb el Watani, was an Algerian political leader and one of the founders of the revolutionary National Liberation Front (FLN) that led the Algerian War of Independence (1954–1962).

In 1962 Boudiaf founded the clandestine opposition party PRS.

In February 1992, after a 27-year exile in Morocco, the military invited him back to become chairman of the High Council of State of Algeria, following the annulment of the election results (see Algerian Civil War.) He was presented as a leader exiled for too long to be tainted by Algeria's internal postrevolutionary politics. However, his term would be cut short: on June 29, 1992, he was assassinated by a bodyguard during a public speech at the opening of a cultural center in Annaba, his first visit outside Algiers as president. This assassination was attributed to a guard with Islamist sympathies, but would become a major magnet for Algerian conspiracy theories. He was survived by his wife, Fatiha Boudiaf.