B. Ben Khedda, 82; Premier of Algeria Led Its Break From France

Benyoussef Ben Khedda, 82, the Algerian premier who announced his country’s negotiated independence from France in 1962 but quickly lost power, died Feb. 4 at his home in Algiers.

The cause of death was not announced.

Ben Khedda was born in Medea, the son of a magistrate working for the French administration. Trained as a pharmacist, he became politically active in his early 20s, joining a clandestine nationalist group.

During World War II, he was imprisoned for opposing French efforts to recruit Algerian soldiers to fight the Nazis.

After the war, he joined the National Liberation Front, which in 1954 began the revolt that was to lead to independence. He later helped start the armed uprising known as the Battle of Algiers.

He captured international headlines years later when he seized control of the Algerian provisional government, then based in Tunis.

He resumed secret negotiations with the French government, and in March 1962, an accord was reached providing for a referendum on Algeria’s independence.

His success was short-lived. By midsummer a struggle for leadership in the provisional government had forced his resignation.

In 1989, he emerged again, founding a moderate Islamic party. But it made little headway and dissolved in 1997.