This Day in History: November 13, 1961
Additional Date: November 13, 1961
Ahmed Ben Bella is moved to a French hospital after 11 days of hunger strike in Algiers, Algeria. Bella became Algeria’s Prime Minister in 1962 and was elected President in 1963. In March 1962, African National Congress (ANC) leader Nelson Mandela was invited by Bella where he received military training from the Algerian National Liberation Front at bases of the latter across the border in Morocco.
On June 19, 1965, after less than three years as Prime Minister and president, Bella was ousted in a coup led by an old ally.