( CNN ) -- Ahmed Ben Bella , Algeria 's first president after the country became independent from France in 1962 , has died at the age of 96 , Algeria 's state-run news agency said Wednesday . He passed away at his family home in Algiers , Algerie Presse Service reported . He was taken to a military hospital twice more than a month ago , the news service said . Ben Bella was president until 1965 , when he was deposed in a coup by Houari Boumedienne . People we 've lost in 2012 : The lives they lived .
Ahmed Ben Ali was president from 1962 to 1965 . He died at his summer home in Cairo , state media says .