Yacef Saadi was in charge of the “autonomous zone” of the Algerian capital during “the battle of Algiers” which saw an increase in the actions of the National Liberation Front and French repressive operations.
Hundreds of people gathered on Saturday, September 11 in Algiers to pay a final tribute to Yacef Saadi, hero of the struggle for the independence of Algeria and emblematic figure of the “Battle of Algiers”, one of the episodes. keys to the war of independence, died Friday at the age of 93.
His coffin covered with the national flag was first laid in a mosque near the old town where a prayer for the dead was celebrated, before being taken to the El Kettar cemetery where he was buried, a photographer from the ‘AFP.
The funeral took place in the presence of Abdelhafidh Alahoum, representative of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, the Minister of Mojahedin (ex-combatants) Laïd Rebiga, veterans of the War of Independence (1954-1962) as well as relatives.
For Laïd Rebiga, Yacef Saadi was one of the “pioneers, heroes and symbols” of the struggle for independence, who devoted himself “body and soul” to his country.
The deceased had “fought until his last breath for Algeria to live.”I am very proud of my father, he taught me all his human values. He wanted to be buried with his parents, his ancestors, his companions, in the midst of his family”, declared his daughter Zaphira, quoted by the official Algerian agency APS.
The “Battle of Algiers” took place in 1957, when the French army attempted to regain control of the old city of Algiers, the Casbah from the Algerian fighters. The arrest of Yacef Saadi on October 14, 1957, marked the end.
Saadi was in charge of the “autonomous zone of Algiers” during this episode of the war which saw an increase in the actions of the National Liberation Front ( FLN ) and French repressive operations.
This baker from the Casbah, promoted military leader of the rebellion for the Algiers region, had played his own role in 1966 in the film, The Battle of Algiers , by Italian filmmaker and Communist journalist Gillo Pontecorvo.
President Tebboune paid homage to an “eminent leader” of “the autonomous zone of Algiers “whose epics and sacrifices he immortalized “faithfully and brilliantly in the famous film, The Battle of Algiers, which is classified among the cinematographic works. most successful”.
This film, which Saadi had produced, was banned for a long time in France, where it was only released in theaters in 2004.
After independence, Yacef Saadi devoted himself to his activity as a producer with the company Casbah Films, which worked for Italian productions shot in Algeria, often in collaboration with the famous producer Dino De Laurentis.
“At that time, everyone swore by Italian neorealism, that’s why I went to Italy to look for a screenwriter and a director for The Battle of Algiers,” Saadi told Le Monde in 2004.
