Cherif Guellal attended the university at Aix-en-Provence in southern France, and graduated in 1956.

Taking the lead from his mother, who was a leader in the Algerian anti-French resistance movement, he joined the government in exile.

He served as a key aide to the resistance leader Ahmed Ben Bella, who became the first president of post-colonial Algeria.

His primary role was to protect the Algerian oil interests and handle the independence of Algeria in the cold-war era.

[3] Cherif Guellal also had to handle Algeria's official ties with Cuba and the tension it generated within the US diplomatic corps.