Born in Algiers in 1932, explosives expert Boudia enrolled in the fight for Algerian Independence in 1955 in the heart of the Federation of France.

Arrested in 1958 for blowing up an oil depot in Mourpiane, close to Marseille, Boudia escaped from prison in 1961 and joined the FLN theatre troupe in Tunis. After Algeria achieved independence, he served in diverse cultural and artistic roles, including the creation and direction of the National Algerian Theatre and editing of the newspaper “Le Soir”. When Boumedienne came to power, Boudia sought sanctuary in France where, like his friend Bachir Boumaza, he rejoined the Palestinian cause and represented Waddi Haddad’s PFLP-COSE in Paris. He also retained a position of charismatic leader of the West Parisian Theatre in Aubervilliers.

In 1971 he succeeded in causing the explosion of a GULF oil refinery but failed to demolish an Israeli depot in Rotterdam. Boudia was known for his particular ability to recruit young women to his cause. That same year, at Easter, he sent three of these women to Jerusalem to bomb a series of Holiday Inns. The operation was aborted, and the young women arrested at Tel-Aviv airport with the explosives in their bags. A few months later, accompanied by another young woman, Boudia targeted a castle in Austria that was used a transit camp for emigrant Russian Jews en route for Israel. This attack also failed but Boudia did not give up: his next target was an oil refinery in Trieste, which he loaded with twenty kilos of explosives. The success of this operation was overwhelming: 250,000 tons of burning oil and a destroyed pipeline resulting in 2.5 million dollars worth of damage.

On June 28, 1973, while leaving the house of one of his female friends, he was blown up while getting into his car. The attack was coordinated by MOSSAD, via a commando unit nicknamed ‘Rage of God’, sent at the behest of Golda Meir in response to the massacre of the Israeli athletes in Munich.

Three weeks after Boudia’s death, Carlos was sent by Waddi Haddad to Paris as his replacement. Carlos named his commando unit ‘Mohammed Boudia’ and executed two attacks in London and three in Paris under the banner of their fallen comrade. Vergès, a friend of Boudia’s since Algeria, and who met with him during the former’s disappearance, was designated by the PLO to re-open an investigation against MOSSAD - an investigation that was swiftly closed.