The dissolution of the FIS by military decree after its electoral victories in 1991-92 triggered the Algerian Civil War.
Haddam spent most of the war years in exile in the United States of America, acting as a main figure in the party's political leadership.
A nuclear physicist, he was a faculty member of the Physics Department of the University of Science and Technology of Algiers before being elected to the Algerian Parliament in December 1991 on behalf of the Islamic Front for Salvation (FIS).
After the interruption of the Democratic process by the military in January 1992, he was given the mission of representing the winning party of majority in those elections, namely the FIS, in Europe and the US, and that of its international relations.
In this Sant'Egidio Platform, Haddam, Abdelhamid Mehri and Hocine Ait Ahmed demanded a reinstatement of democracy in Algeria.