(ROUGH CUT ONLY - NO REPORTER NARRATION)<br/> <br />The funeral for former Algerian President Chadli Bendjedid took place in Algiers on Monday (October 8). The country's current president Abdelaziz Bouteflika was among the dignitaries attending the ceremony.<br/> <br />Bendjedid died in Algiers on Saturday (October 6) after a long illness, a presidential statement said.<br/> <br />Chadli Bendjedid was a veteran of Algeria's war against French colonial rule in the 1950s.<br/> <br />He was elected Algeria's third president in 1979 after the death of his predecessor Houari Boumedienne in December 1978.<br/> <br />Chadli Bendjedid was re-elected for five-year terms in 1984 and December 1988, and played a key role in 1990 in Arab League efforts to prevent the Gulf War.<br/> <br />He was forced out of office in January 1992 in a military coup as the Algerian military cancelled a legislative election which Islamists had won. The violence that ensued lasted until 1999.<br/> <br />Current President Abdelaziz Bouteflika declared a period of national mourning of eight days as of Saturday.
