It marked a long march from Abbas's oft-quoted statement of 1936 — “I will not die for the Algerian nation, because it does not exist.” A few weeks later, Abbas had an “exploratory” meeting with Abane, Krim and Ouamrane in Algiers. With outright frankness, Abane told him: “The revolution has been unleashed, and it is the work of neither Messali, nor the U.D.M.A. All that is out of date. Your duty is to join the Front.” When Abbas asked Abane what precisely he should do, he was told: “Dissolve the U.D.M.A., and announce that you are going over to the Front.”

Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Alge…, loc. 434