page_title: Larbi Ben M'hidi
section_title: Soummam Conference
hierarchical_section_title: Larbi Ben M'hidi / Rebellion / Soummam Conference
caption_attribution_description: English: Ouamrane in Soummam conference with other Algerian leaders العربية: صورة تذكارية في مؤتمر الصومام من اليمين لليسار: أعمر أوعمران، كريم بلقاسم، العربي بن مهيدي، عبان رمضان، زيغود يوسف
context_page_description: Larbi Ben M'hidi, commonly known as Si Larbi or simply as Ben M'hidi, was a prominent revolutionary leader during the Algerian war of independence. He is one of the six founding members of the Front de Libération Nationale that launched an armed revolt throughout Algeria and issued a proclamation calling for a sovereign Algerian state.
  Ben M'hidi initially commanded Wilaya V and played an important role at the FLN's Soummam conference in August 1956. He headed FLN operations during the Battle of Algiers where he was the last member of the FLN's Comité de Coordination et d'Exécution. Ben M'hidi was a strong believer in that the revolution should be directed by "internal" rather than "external" revolutionaries.
  He was captured by French paratroopers in February 1957. His death was announced in March 1957 by Pierre Gorlin, Robert Lacoste's press officer. The events surrounding his death were disputed, and contended by many that he was in fact tortured before being summarily executed. Many who knew him, have ruled out the possibility of him taking his own life, as was reported in the media, due to his devotion to Islam, which forbids suicide.
context_section_description: On 20 August 1956 a congress assembled in the Soummam Valley in the Kabyle. Ben M'hidi attended alone from Wilaya V (Oran). He also deputized for the "externals" in absentia, as he was the delegate to have been most recently in contact with their views. The first session was presided over by Ben M'hidi,
  with Abane Ramdane as secretary. Ben M'hidi had criticized the "uselessly bloody operations" which had given a bad impression on public opinion, specifically citing Zighout's massacre at El-Halia which had occurred exactly one year previously. He had also criticized Amirouche where perhaps over a thousand dissident Muslims had been "liquidated" in a village near Bougie. The conference lasted 20 days ending sometime in September 1956. The French authorities had no knowledge that many of their most important adversaries were assembled in one place. 
  During the conference Ben M'hidi was elected along with Abane Ramdane and Krim Belkacem to the Comité de Coordination et d'Exécution (CCE; Committee of Coordination and Implementation) where they were given the responsibility in running the Algerian War of Independence.
caption: Youcef Zighout, Abane Ramdane, Ben M'hidi, Krim Belkacem and Amar Ouamrane. Photograph taken in August/September 1956.
exif: {}