In 1952 he founded the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN), which instigated the Algerian War of Independence (1954–62). He was elected Prime Minister of a provisional government shortly before the end of the war, becoming the first President of an independent Algeria the following year. As President he initiated social and economic reform and encouraged closer links with other Arab nations. Overthrown in a military coup, he was kept under house arrest until 1979 and lived in exile until 1990, when he returned to Algeria to lead the opposition to the ruling regime.