On January 31, 1994 General Liamine Zeroual became Algeria's head of state, appointed by the ruling military-backed High Council of State to replace Ali Kafi, as the country's civil war against Islamist insurgents raged. Since the January 1992 coup, Algeria had been governed by the High Council of State, a collective presidency dominated by the military; Kafi had led it since the assassination of Mohamed Boudiaf in mid-1992. In late January 1994, as the transitional body's mandate expired, the army-backed leadership selected Zeroual, a former general and the sitting defense minister, to serve as head of state for a transitional term.
He took office on January 31, 1994. Zeroual pursued a mix of dialogue with and confrontation against the Islamist opposition, and was later elected president in 1995. Kafi stepped down without being harmed.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Ali Kafi, whose term as head of the High Council of State ended when Liamine Zeroual was appointed head of state on January 31, 1994; Kafi stepped down and was not physically harmed.
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Liamine Zeroual (appointed head of state)
Ali Kafi (outgoing High Council of State chairman)
Sources
Liamine Zeroual served as president of Algeria from 31 January 1994 to 27 April 1999, succeeding Ali Kafi, and after Bendjedid's forced resignation in January 1992 his career prospects improved, so that in July 1993 he became Minister of Defense and in January 1994 he was promoted to head of the High Council of State.
After having been elected by the members of the army-backed National Conference for the Transitory Period, Liamine Zeroual, former Minister of Defense, was appointed to serve a three-year transition term as President of the state by the High Security Council on January 30 to 31, 1994.
On the political front Zeroual was appointed head of state on Jan. 31, 1994 by the High Council of State, before being elected President of Algeria on Nov. 16, 1995, and he was reputed to be politically dialoguist, supporting a partly negotiated solution to the Algerian Civil War.
SOURCE REVIEWEDGulf Times, Algerian Presidency announces death of Liamine Zeroualopen source ↗
Ali Kafi served as chairman of the High Council of State of Algeria from 2 July 1992 to 31 January 1994, having been selected after the assassination of Mohamed Boudiaf, and ruled until his replacement by Liamine Zeroual.
Coding note: the dataset labels this a palace coup with a not-physically-harmed fate, dated January 31, 1994. In substance this was a leadership transition engineered within the military-backed ruling structure: as the High Council of State's transitional mandate expired, the army-backed leadership installed the sitting defense minister General Liamine Zeroual as head of state, replacing Ali Kafi. The palace-coup label reflects that the change was decided by the ruling establishment rather than by election. Who is coded deposed: the outgoing High Council of State chairman Ali Kafi, whose term ended; he stepped down and was not physically harmed, matching the dataset. Arc link: this continues the Algeria thread this enrichment has tracked, following the June 1991 auto-coup, the January 1992 coup, and the July 1992 installation of Kafi after Boudiaf's assassination (batches 42 and 43); Zeroual's appointment set the stage for the 1995 presidential election. Context recorded and handled neutrally: the transition occurred amid the ongoing Algerian civil war against Islamist insurgents, which killed very large numbers over the decade (government figures cite more than 150,000 dead); Zeroual is noted for pursuing a partly negotiated approach. These figures and characterizations are recorded per their sources. Neutrality maintained on a contested subject.
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Ali Kafi, whose term as head of the High Council of State ended when Liamine Zeroual was appointed head of state on January 31, 1994; Kafi stepped down and was not physically harmed..
Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
“Algeria Appoints a New President,” January 31, 1994
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →