Thousands gather at burial of Algerian hero Hocine Ait-Ahmed
Tens of thousands of people attended the burial of Hocine Ait-Ahmed Friday, as the hero of Algeria's struggle for independence was laid to rest in his home village.
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Tens of thousands attend the funeral of Hocine Ait-Ahmed in Algerian village on Friday.
Tens of thousands of Algerians massed in a mountain village for a chaotic burial ceremony on Friday of a national hero of the brutal independence war with France.
Hocine Ait Ahmed, who spent nearly a quarter of a century in exile in Europe, was buried in the village where he was born a day after his remains arrived in Algiers, the Algerian capital.
Ait Ahmed, 89, a longtime opposition figure died Wednesday in Lausanne, Switzerland.
He had requested a burial in his native village, Ath Ahmedh, next to his mother's grave.
The village is situated 110 kilometers (nearly 70 miles) east of Algiers in the heart of the Kabyle region, home to Algeria's proud-spirited Berber population.
The ceremony transformed into a scene of chaos as crowds flooded the winding mountain roads to view the flag-draped coffin.
"Algeria free and democratic," shouted the crowd, taking up a slogan of the Front of Socialist Forces party that Ait-Ahmed founded decades ago, and which remains an active opposition voice today.
Ait Ahmed was the last of the nine heroes of the independence war to die.
He had spoken out against the political system controlled by the military since independence from France in 1962. These criticisms were more overt in the past, but had become more discreet in recent times.
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's government welcomed Ait Ahmed's remains with a fanfare at Algiers airport. However, his family refused to allow him to be buried in the capital alongside other heroes of the independence war.
Chaotic conditions at the burial site forced top officials planning to attend the funeral to turn back.
Hocine Ait Ahmed, who spent nearly a quarter of a century in exile in Europe, was buried in the village where he was born a day after his remains arrived in Algiers, the Algerian capital.
Ait Ahmed, 89, a longtime opposition figure died Wednesday in Lausanne, Switzerland.
He had requested a burial in his native village, Ath Ahmedh, next to his mother's grave.
The village is situated 110 kilometers (nearly 70 miles) east of Algiers in the heart of the Kabyle region, home to Algeria's proud-spirited Berber population.
The ceremony transformed into a scene of chaos as crowds flooded the winding mountain roads to view the flag-draped coffin.
"Algeria free and democratic," shouted the crowd, taking up a slogan of the Front of Socialist Forces party that Ait-Ahmed founded decades ago, and which remains an active opposition voice today.
Ait Ahmed was the last of the nine heroes of the independence war to die.
He had spoken out against the political system controlled by the military since independence from France in 1962. These criticisms were more overt in the past, but had become more discreet in recent times.
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's government welcomed Ait Ahmed's remains with a fanfare at Algiers airport. However, his family refused to allow him to be buried in the capital alongside other heroes of the independence war.
Chaotic conditions at the burial site forced top officials planning to attend the funeral to turn back.
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