Little Omar


Petit Omar or Little Omar was the nickname of Yacef Omar (1944-1957), notable figure of the Algerian War for Independence.

Biography

Yacef Omar was born in 1944 at the Casbah of Algiers in a kabyle family. He is the nephew of Yacef Saadi, leader of the Autonomous Zone of Algiers. Little Omar was the liaison officer between the fighters and the leaders of the FLN (National Liberation Front) during the “Battle of Algiers”.

Little Omar grew in the big familial house with Yacef Saadi. This allowed him to see the figureheads of the Algerian Revolution like Abane Ramdane, Krim Belkacem, Colonel Ouamrane, Rabah Bitat, Ali La Pointe who visited regularly his uncle. Courier between the militants and the FLN leaders, he succeeded to cross all police roadblocks and elude the French paratroopers in the hardest moments of the Battle of Algiers.

He was killed on October 5, 1957 in the Casbah by the paratrooper commandos of the 1st Foreign Parachute Regiment in the house where he was hiding with Hassiba Ben Bouali, Ali La Pointe and Hamid Bouhamidi.

Tribute

A New ultramodern hospital located at Draa Ben Khedda was named “Yacef Omar Hospital” in tribute to the child of the Casbah. His uncle Yacef Saadi was present the day of the inauguration on February 18, 2014.

References