Editing Mohammed Boudiaf (section)

==Assassination and legacy==
{{Main|Assassination of Mohamed Boudiaf}}

On June 29, 1992, Boudiaf's term as [[High Council of State (Algeria)|HCE]] chairman was cut short when he was assassinated by a bodyguard during a televised public speech at the opening of a cultural center in [[Annaba (city)|Annaba]], on his first visit outside Algiers as head of state. The murder caused intense shock in Algeria, and remains a moment of iconic importance in the country's modern history. Boudiaf himself has gained considerably in political stature after his death, and is now referred to by many political commentators as a martyr for Algeria, with many arguing that he could have been the country's savior.

The assassin , Lieutenant [[Lambarek Boumaarafi]], was said to have acted as a lone gunman due to his [[Islamist]] sympathies. He was sentenced to death in a closed trial in 1995, but the sentence was not carried out. The murder has, unsurprisingly, been subject to significant controversy and a major magnet for Algerian [[conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]], with many suggesting that Boudiaf was in fact assassinated by the military establishment responsible for the coup (and for his installment as HCE chairman). These theories have centered on the fact that Boudiaf had recently initiated a drive against the corruption of the Algerian regime, and stripped several important military officials of their posts.

Boudiaf was survived by his wife, [[Fatiha Boudiaf|Fatiha]]. She remains insistent that his death has not been properly investigated.