Initially, the coup was denounced as a putsch executed by Boumédiène and an attempt to install a right-wing government in a previously eastern-bloc friendly country. A former Algerian diplomat, Rabah Mechhoud, claims that the American Embassy in Algiers led the coup and distributed pamphlets delivered via Marseilles, though his claims have not been substantiated.[12] On the 19th and 20th of June the new government dispersed protests of the coup, however, the local police, not military elements were used to maintain order in most instances. On 5 July, Boumédiène announced the creation of the Revolutionary Council (RC) with himself serving as president of the RC, Minister of Defense, and President of the Council of Ministers.