29 Facts About Ahmed Ouyahia

Ahmed Ouyahia is an Algerian politician who was Prime Minister of Algeria four times.

Ahmed Ouyahia is considered by Western observers to be close to the military of Algeria and a member of the "eradicator" faction in the 1990s civil war against Islamist militants.

Ouyahia resigned as Prime Minister in March 2019 following President Bouteflika's announcement that he would not seek reelection, and Ouyahia was arrested in June 2019 for crimes related to corruption.

Ahmed Ouyahia was later convicted and is currently serving 19 years in jail.

Ahmed Ouyahia was born in the village of Bouadnane in Tizi Ouzou Province in the Kabylie region of Algeria on 2 July 1952.

In 1972, Ahmed Ouyahia joined the entry examination for the "National High Studies School of Administration" of Algiers.

Ahmed Ouyahia graduated in 1976 and did his military service from 1976 to 1978, at the El Mouradia compound of the Algerian Presidency where he was a member of the press relations team.

In 1979, Ahmed Ouyahia joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was assigned to the African affairs department.

In 1988 Ahmed Ouyahia became the general director of the African department of the foreign affairs ministry.

From 1988 to 1989 Ahmed Ouyahia was co-representative to the United Nations Security Council.

Ahmed Ouyahia was an advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1990 to 1991.

Ahmed Ouyahia led the African department until 1991 when he was named as Ambassador to Mali; he served in the latter post from 1992 to 1993.

Ahmed Ouyahia is particularly associated with the creation in the late 1990s of the GLD citizen militias.

In December 1995, Ahmed Ouyahia was nominated as Prime Minister and held that position until December 1998, when he resigned following the election of Abdelaziz Bouteflika as president.

In 2000, Ahmed Ouyahia was elected as Secretary General of the National Rally for Democracy, which he had earlier helped to found.

Ahmed Ouyahia resigned from the post on 5 January 2013.

Ahmed Ouyahia served as the Minister of State for Justice from 1999 to 2002 in Bouteflika's first government.

Ahmed Ouyahia worked in conjunction with Anthony Lake, National Security Advisor to President Bill Clinton of the United States, and a peace deal was secured and signed in Algiers in December 2000.

In June 2002, following the defeat of the RND in the 2002 parliamentary election, Ahmed Ouyahia resigned and was nominated in the next government as Minister of State and Special Representative of the President, an honorary position entailing no governing power.

Ahmed Ouyahia served in the post for three years, until his resignation on 24 May 2006 amidst political arguments between Ahmed Ouyahia's political party and Bouteflika's political party, the FLN.

Ahmed Ouyahia has been widely credited with mediating a longstanding dispute between protesters leaders from his native Kabylie and the government.

In particular, prime minister Ahmed Ouyahia reached agreement on a number of Kabylie grievances with Arouch leader Belaid Abrika, who had been physically assaulted during a public protest rally and seriously injured in 2004 by members of government security services.

Ahmed Ouyahia made a number of visits to opposition leaders, and reached out in the Berber-language media for reconciliation.

Ahmed Ouyahia's term ended on 3 September 2012, and he was replaced by Abdulmalek Sellal.

Ahmed Ouyahia was again appointed as Prime Minister on 15 August 2017, succeeding Abdelmadjid Tebboune; he took office on 16 August.

In October 2018, Ahmed Ouyahia announced that Algeria would ban the burqa at the workplace.

In March 2019, Ahmed Ouyahia resigned from his position as Prime Minister following President Bouteflika's announcement that he would not seek reelection following protests across the country.

In June 2019, Ahmed Ouyahia was arrested by the country's supreme court as part of an anti-corruption investigation.

On 4 January 2021, Ahmed Ouyahia was sentenced to seven years in prison, in relation to the corruption case in the tourism sector in Skikda.