
Arab News
DUBAI: Algeria’s Chief of Staff of the People’s National Army Ahmed Gaid Salah died of a heart attack, Algerian state news agency APS said on Monday.
He is being replaced on a temporary basis by Major General Said Chengriha, according to Al-Arabiya.
The President Abdelmadjid Tebboune declared three days of nationwide mourning and seven days in military establishments.
Salah died Monday morning in the military hospital of Algiers after a heart attack. Algerian media reports said Gaid Salah was 79 or 80 years old.
He was seen as the main power player in Algeria, especially since a pro-democracy movement with his backing pushed out the country’s longtime president in April.
Salah was present at the inauguration of this gas-rich country’s new president last week.
With AP