M'hamed Hadj Yala (Arabic: محمد يعلى), also known as El Hadj Yala, was an Algerian politician who served in various positions in the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic and Algeria, including as the Minister of Commerce, Finance, and the Interior and as ambassadors to the USSR and China.
M'hamed Hadj Yala | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of the Interior of Algeria | |
| In office January 12, 1982 – June 13, 1987 | |
| President | Chadli Bendjedid |
| Prime Minister | Mohamed Ben Ahmed Abdelghani Abdelhamid Brahimi |
| Preceded by | Boualem Benhamouda |
| Succeeded by | El Hadi Khediri |
| Minister of Finance of Algeria | |
| In office March 8, 1979 – January 12, 1982 | |
| Preceded by | Mohamed al-Siddiq ben Yahya |
| Succeeded by | Boualem Benhamouda |
| 5th wali of Algiers Province | |
| In office July 30, 1965 – August 18, 1970 | |
| Preceded by | Rabah Bouaziz |
| Succeeded by | Slimane Hoffman |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 23, 1927 Tifra, Bejaia Province, French Algeria (now Algeria) |
| Died | September 29, 2021 (aged 94) |
| Political party | FLN |
Biography
editYala was born on December 23, 1927, in to a Berber family in Tifra, Béjaïa Province, French Algeria.[1][2] His first acts in politics began in the early 1950s as a leader of the Algerian Muslim Scouts. In 1954, at the outbreak of the Algerian War, he became the political leader in the FLN in Wilaya III.[3] Yala then served as the FLN's ambassador to Tunis and Cairo, and then Germany.[3] In 1958, Yala began serving in socialist countries, first as deputy ambassador of the FLN to Belgrade and then ambassador in Prague.[3]
In 1964, Yala served as ambassador of the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic (GPRA) to China.[4][5] In 1965, he served as the wali of Algiers Province following the 1965 Algerian coup d'état, and was transferred to a position as wali of Constantine Province on August 18, 1970, with Slimane Hoffman taking over in Algiers.[6][7] As wali of Constantine, Yala joined President Houari Boumédiène in a 1974 trip to China with other ministers.[8] That same year, he became the advisor to Boumediene.[9] Between 1977 and 1979, Yala served as the Algerian Minister of Commerce.[9]
Yala served as Minister of Finance from 1979 to 1982, speaking at the 1979 International Monetary Fund fund policy discussions and attending the North–South Summit in Cancun, Mexico in 1981.[10][11] In 1982, during a foreign debt crisis in Algeria, President Chadli Bendjedid appointed five Berbers to various positions, with Yala being appointed to the Minister of the Interior.[2] In 1987, Yala was appointed as ambassador to the Soviet Union, and he resigned in 1988.[3][12]
Yala died on September 29, 2021, at the age of 94.[1] Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune expressed his condolences.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Décès de M'hamed Hadj Yala: le ministre des Moudjahidine présente ses condoléances". Algerian Press Service. September 26, 2021. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
- ^ a b "POLITICAL DYNAMICS OF ALGERIA | CIA FOIA (foia.cia.gov)". www.cia.gov. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
- ^ a b c d Ounezar, Mohamed (September 30, 2021). "M'hamed Yala n'est plus". L'Expression. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
- ^ "Record of Conversation from Chairman Mao's Reception of the Algerian Ambassador to China Mohamed Yala". Wilson Center. August 17, 1964. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
- ^ "Memorandum of Conversation from the Meeting between Premier Zhou Enlai and the Algerian Ambassador to China Mohamed Yala". Wilson Center. August 6, 1964. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
- ^ "Journel Officiel de la Republique Algerienne" (PDF). Official Journal of the Algerian Republic. August 20, 1965. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
- ^ "Journel Officiel de la Republique Algerienne" (PDF). Official Journal of the Algerian Republic. August 21, 1970. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
- ^ "Chairman Mao meets President Boumediene" (PDF). Peking Review via Marxist Internet Archive. March 8, 1974. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
- ^ a b "Journel Officielle de la Republique Algerienne Democratique et Populaire" (PDF). Official Journal of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria. April 23, 1977. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
- ^ "Foreign Affairs: Twenty-Two Nation Summit, 10/21/1981-10/23/1981 Cancun, Mexico" (PDF). Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. October 23, 1981. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
- ^ Department, International Monetary Fund Secretary's, "Front Matter", Summary Proceedings of the Thirty-Fourth Annual Meetings of the Board of Governors, 1979, International Monetary Fund, ISBN 978-1-4755-8138-6, retrieved 2024-06-16
- ^ "Journal Officiel de la Republique Algerienne" (PDF). Official Journal of the Algerian Republic. March 2, 1988. Retrieved June 16, 2024.