Tens of thousands of people have gathered in an Algerian village for the burial of Hocine Aït Ahmed, a key figure in the country’s struggle for independence and later in the political opposition.
Aït Ahmed died last week in Switzerland at the age of 89. A state funeral was held in Algiers on Thursday; his body was transferred to his home village, which bears his name, for burial on Friday.
He was the last of the nine so-called sons of Toussaint, who launched an uprising against French rule on 1 November 1954. Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, also a veteran of the struggle for independence, declared eight days of mourning after Aït Ahmed’s death.
Draped in Algeria’s national flag, the coffin was carried in an ambulance through the village, where huge crowds filled the streets. “Today and tomorrow, Hocine lives!” they chanted. “Algeria, free and democratic!”
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