Ali La Pointe

Ali Ammar
Born	(1930-05-14)14 May 1930 Miliana, Algeria
Died	9 October 1957(1957-10-09) (aged 27) Algiers, Algeria
Other names	Ali La Pointe
Occupation	Freedom Fighter
Organization	Armée de Libération Nationale (ALN)
Known for	Battle of Algiers
Movement	Front de Libération Nationale (FLN)
Religion	Sunni Islam

Ali Ammar (Arabic: علي عمار‎),(14 May 1930 – 8 October 1957), also known as Ali La Pointe, was a guerrilla leader who fought for Algerian independence against the French. In the film, The Battle of Algiers, he was portrayed by Brahim Haggiag.

Ammar lived a life of petty crime and was serving a two-year prison sentence when war broke out in Algeria in 1954. Recruited in the notorious Barberousse prison by FLN militants, he became one of the FLN's most trusted and loyal lieutenants in Algiers. On 28 December 1956, he killed the Mayor of Boufarik, Amedee Froger.

In 1957 French paratroopers led by Colonel Yves Godard systematically isolated and eliminated the FLN leadership in Algiers. Godard's counter-terrorism methods included interrogation with torture. In June la Pointe led teams in setting explosives in street lights near public transportation stops and bombing a dance club that killed 17.^[1]

Saadi Yacef ordered the leadership to hide in separate addresses within the Casbah. After Yacef's capture Ali la Pointe and three companions, Hassiba Ben Bouali, 'Hamid' Bouhamidi and 'le petit Omar', held out in hiding until 8 October. Tracked down by paras acting on a tip-off from an informer, Ali La Pointe was given the chance to surrender but refused, whereupon he, his companions, and the house in which he was hiding were bombed by French paratroopers. In all, 20 Algerians were killed in the blast.^[2]

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