Lounes Matoub is a famous Kabyle singer who supported the Berber cause and secularism in Algeria during all his life. Adulated in Kabylie but hated in the rest of the country because of his atheism and Blasphemous songs (like Allahu Akbar (Matoub)), He was assassinated on June 25, 1998 in circumstances which were not still completely elucidated. This article focuses on the geographical area of Kabylie and its people. ... The Berbers (also called Imazighen, free men, singular Amazigh) are a predominantly Muslim ethnic group indigenous to the Maghreb, speaking the Berber languages of the Afroasiatic family. ... This article concerns secularism, the exclusion of religion and supernatural beliefs. ... The People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, or Algeria, is a nation in north Africa, and the second largest country on the African continent. ... This article focuses on the geographical area of Kabylie and its people. ... Atheism is the state either of being without theistic beliefs, or of actively disbelieving in the existence of deities. ... Blasphemy is the defamation of the name of God or the gods, and by extension any display of gross irreverence towards any person or thing deemed worthy of exalted esteem. ... June 25 is the 176th day of the year (177th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 189 days remaining. ... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...

Matoub Lounes

• January 24, 1956, birth of Lounes Matoub in Taourirt Moussa (Kabylie).
• At 9 years old, he built his first guitar using an empty oil can of car;
• Teenager, he composed his first songs;
• Considering that the teaching exempted by the Algerian school only aimed at furnishing the memory with the worst aberrations, He deserted school in 1975;
• In 1978, He recorded his first album, which had a phenomenal success.
• In addition to the made up songs for other artists, his work is rich of 36 albums. It treats the most varied topics: the Berber cause, democracy, freedom, Religion, Islamism, love, the exile, the memory, the history, peace, the human rights….
• In spite of the censure in the Algerian media and particularly the radio and television, he remained the most popular Kabyle singer.
• He is Shot of 5 bullets by a gendarme, at the time of the events of October 1988, He had 17 surgical operations, 2 years of hospitalization, an artificial sacrum and contraction of his leg by 5 centimeters
• Kidnapped by an Islamist terrorist group in 1994, sequestered during 15 days and condemned to die, He is released thanks to a gigantic popular mobilization;
• December 06, 1994, He received "the Price of the memory" decreed by Mrs Danielle Mitterand, President of the Foundation France Freedoms (Paris) thus succeeding men and organizations which devoted their life to the fight for the safeguarding of the memory of the human adventure;
• March 22, 1995, S.C.I.J.(Canada) gave him the Price of the Freedom of expression;
• December 19, 1995, it receives the Price Tahar Djaout decreed by the Abba Foundation with the head office of UNESCO (Paris);
• He wrote a book entitled "rebel" (tocks editions 1995);
• June 25, 1998 Lounes Matoub is cowardly assassinated under mysterious conditions before the release of his last album: “letter open to…” (Gold-Disc).
• June 28, several thousands of people attended the burial of the poet in front of his house in his native village.
• June 30 the GIA (Islamist terrorists) asserts the assassination of Matoub Lounes.

File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... This article focuses on the geographical area of Kabylie and its people. ... Gia is a 1998 film about the life of bisexual drug-abusing supermodel Gia Marie Carangi. ...

External Links

Fondation Matoub (http://www.matoub.net/), The official website of the rebel : Biography, Free Online Music... etc.