Dr. Ahmed Taleb Ibrahimi | |
---|---|
Minister of External Affairs of Algeria | |
In office 1982–1988 |
|
Minister Counselor of the President of Algeria | |
In office 1977–1982 |
|
Minister of Information and Culture of Algeria | |
In office 1970–1977 |
|
Minister of National Education of Algeria | |
In office 1965–1970 |
|
Personal details | |
Born |
Setif, Algeria |
January 5, 1932
Nationality | Algerian |
Political party | National Liberation Front (FLN) |
Spouse(s) | Souad Taleb Ibrahimi |
Children | 2 sons - Saadeddine Taleb Ibrahimi and Bachir Taleb Ibrahimi |
Alma mater | Académie Nationale de Médecine |
Religion | Muslim |
Dr. Ahmed Taleb Ibrahimi (Arabic: أحمد طالب الإبراهيمي) (born January 5, 1932) is an Algerian politician and intellectual.
He is the son of Islamic theologian and renowned scholar Bashir Ibrahimi, and served in multiple ministerial roles in Algeria from the 1960s until the late 1980s. A staunch anti-colonialist and proponent of Arab heritage through his writings and his actions, Dr. Ibrahimi was jailed by the French authorities as a militant of the FLN Party. He ran for president in 1999 but withdrew from the race along with all other opposition candidates hours before voting commenced, claiming electoral fraud by the army. In 2004, his proposed candidacy was disqualified because of alleged links with the proscribed Islamic Salvation Front (FIS). His platform includes moderate Islamism and adherence to free-market economics. Dr. Ibrahimi is the father of two sons, and currently resides in the city of Algiers, Algeria with his wife Souad.
Ahmed Taleb-Ibrahimi was born on January 5, 1932 in the eastern city of Setif, 220 miles off the Algerian capital. He grew up in a family of modest means, which was yet in contrast intellectually and spiritually wealthy. His father, Sheikh Bashir Ibrahimi, a renowned scholar, was already fighting the French colonialism not with a military weapon but with his sharp pen and voice. He was Deputy President and later President of the “Association of the Oulemaa”, whose main objective was to build schools in order to inform & educate the populace, raise awareness about the Arabic heritage & a moderate Islam, and free Algeria from the shackles of colonialism. Because of his militant activities, the French occupiers extradited him numerous times, and assigned him under house arrest for “spreading subversion.” This in turn obliged the family to be scattered around the country.
As a child and an adolescent, Ahmed quickly acquired from his father a precious knowledge and a general culture which he will later rely and build on. In the late 40’s, he passed his Baccalaureate exam and went on studying medicine. In 1954 he moved to Paris to further his medical education, and after that he earned a degree in Hematology, interning at few Parisian hospitals.