Algeria of the Generals

Since independence, Algeria has been ruled by Generals who have kept the country in a state of civil war and misery. But how does this power function and endure? Arrested and tortured in Algeria for setting up a free student union in the 1980s, accused of Islamism and frequently harassed ever since, Lyes Laribi has come into close contact with Military Security, Algeria’s political police force. The author traces the history of the internal quarrels between General Zeroual's clan and General Nezzar's—coups d'état, economic schemes, political crimes spanning from 1962 to 1999. Now, Lyes Laribi reveals that behind the government of the current president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, lies a third clan of Generals, an extension of these corrupt cliques. This courageous investigation by the author of Dans les geôles de Nezzar is an original and passionate critique of Algeria's recent history. An invitation to give back to the Algerian people the trust and voice confiscated from them.