The body of Algeria’s powerful army chief – the former independence fighter who became his country’s de facto ruler – was carried to his grave on a tank on Wednesday as hundreds of thousands of mourners looked on.
Lieutenant general Ahmed Gaed Salah, who masterminded the state’s response to mass protests this year, died of a heart attack on Monday, aged 79.
“He did the right thing when he secured the millions who marched in the past 10 months demanding change,” said Abdesselam Selami, 52, a telecoms worker speaking to Reuters by phone from the capital’s Palais de Peuple. “Zero killed.”
He had angered protesters who accused him of working to keep the army and the rest of the ruling elite in power after he helped oust long-time president Abdelaziz Bouteflika in April.
Although an interim president was appointed, Gaid Salah was widely seen as holding the reins. He did not attempt to crush the peaceful protests with violence, but many demonstrators saw him as the main obstacle in their path.
Many in the crowd in Algiers on Wednesday gave him the credit for the army’s largely restrained response to the mass demonstrations that rocked cities across the North African nation.
He pushed for an election to replace Bouteflika, a vote the protesters regarded as a charade as the real power would remain with the army.
They chanted “A civilian state, not a military state” and, as the protest wore on, demanded the resignation of Gaid Salah.
