Chadli Bendjedid, who has died of cancer aged 83, was the president of Algeria from 1979 to 1992. During his rule, the republic became more moderate than it was under his predecessor, Houari Boumedienne, who lent his support to hijackers and terrorists. Coming to power after Boumedienne's death, Bendjedid introduced democratic reforms and created a multi-party system. He tried to reduce the role of the state in the economy and the government's surveillance of citizens.
In his first months in power, Bendjedid freed Ahmed Ben Bella, the first president of independent Algeria, who had been under house arrest since Boumedienne deposed him in 1965. In negotiations in 1980-81, Bendjedid's government helped to secure the freedom of the 52 American hostages held in Iran. Several years later, he became the first Algerian president to make an official visit to the US.
In the late 1980s, when the Algerian economy was failing due to the collapse of oil and gas revenue, Bendjedid introduced austerity policies which resulted in long queues for scarce and expensive food. This sparked a protest known as the couscous revolt, resulting in four weeks of strikes in 1988 and widespread rioting in Algiers, Oran, Blida and other towns. By the time security forces had restored order, around 500 people had been killed and more than 3,500 arrested.
In December 1991 the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) convincingly won the first round of multi-party elections, taking absolute majorities in 188 of 430 electoral districts, far ahead of the 15 seats held by the governing FLN (National Liberation Front). A few days before the second round, the army – fearing an FIS takeover – stepped in under the pretext of safeguarding the national interest, cancelled the elections and forced Bendjedid to resign in January 1992. The army rounded up thousands of FIS supporters and placed them in concentration camps in the Sahara. This triggered the long-running civil war which resulted in approximately 200,000 deaths. Bendjedid was put under house arrest in Oran, but freed when Abdelaziz Bouteflika won the election in 1999.
Bendjedid was born in Bouteldja, a village close to the Tunisian border. Under colonial rule, the army was one way of finding a future, so Bendjedid served the French as a non-commissioned officer and fought in Indo-China, then defected to the FLN after the Algerian war of independence broke out in 1954. He later joined the National Liberation army in the Constantine region of north-eastern Algeria, and served as operational commander in various provinces.
After more than 100 years of French rule and eight years of warfare, Algeria became independent in July 1962. Within two years, Bendjedid was military chief of the Oran region – a position he held until 1978. His battalion was one of the most important units to help Boumedienne in the 1965 coup that overthrew Ben Bella. Following the coup, he became a member of the revolutionary council, set up that year.
A protege of Boumedienne, he was minister of defence when his mentor died in 1978. Bendjedid then became the army's and the FLN's preferred candidate to Bouteflika, who had served as Boumedienne's foreign minister for 16 years. Bendjedid was elected the third president of Algeria in February 1979 in a sweeping victory.
In 2002 Bendjedid gave an interview in which he explained that he had wanted to accept the result of the 1991 elections and work with the FIS. He believed that the constitution gave him the power to prevent the FIS taking over all government institutions, but he failed to persuade the army chiefs.
Bendjedid's memoirs are due to be published later this year. He was married to Halima Ben Aissa, with whom he had four sons.