12 Facts About Khaled Nezzar

Major-General Khaled Nezzar was an Algerian general and a member of the High Council of State of Algeria.

Khaled Nezzar was born in the douar of Thlet, in Seriana in the Batna region.

Khaled Nezzar's father, Rahal Nezzar, was a former non-commissioned officer in the French army who had turned to farming after World War II.

Khaled Nezzar was one of a number of Algerian professional soldiers who gained their initial training and experience serving with the French forces before defecting to the nationalist FLN forces during the final years of the War of Independence.

Khaled Nezzar returned in his second year without finishing his studies, having been summoned back to command troops in Tindouf at the height of the Moroccan-Algerian conflict over the Western Sahara issue.

Khaled Nezzar spent the next seven years in the Bechar-Tindouf area.

Khaled Nezzar rose rapidly through the ranks, and, by 1988, he was a ground forces commander at Ain Naadja in Algiers, where he played a significant role in suppressing the "Black October" riots.

Khaled Nezzar became a member of the new provisional governing body, the High Council of State, when it was established in January 1991.

Khaled Nezzar survived an assassination attempt in February 1993 in El Biar, and gave up his position five months later, when the HCS's mandate terminated.

Khaled Nezzar apologized for his son's actions three days later; his son was eventually found guilty in court, and paid a fine of 12 euros.

In 2002, Khaled Nezzar sued the dissident officer Habib Souaidia in Paris for defamation.

Khaled Nezzar died in Algiers on 29 December 2023, at the age of 86.