Algeria again urges France: admit colonial crimes

[Al-khiyal]

ALGIERS, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Algeria has reiterated that it is ready to improve ties with France if Paris admits it committed crimes during its 130 years as colonial ruler of the North African country.

Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem restated Algeria's position less than two days before an official visit by French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, who is also a leading right-wing presidential hopeful.

France is trying to improve diplomatic ties and economic influence in Africa's second largest country at a time when other European nations and the United States are developing their energy and trade ties with the oil and gas exporter.

"We say to the French that we are ready to establish friendly relations that benefit the interests of the two sides provided that France admits its crimes," said Belkhadem, speaking late on Saturday at a forum organised by state television and flanked by fellow ministers.

"We cannot ask the Algerian people to forget."

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has repeatedly called on France to apologise for crimes committed during the colonial era to help improve bilateral ties with his nation of 33 million.

He has focused on the demand that Paris admit its part in the massacre of 45,000 Algerians who took to the streets to demand independence as Europe celebrated victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.

France authorities have responded by urging "mutual respect" and saying it was up to historians to write history.

The 1954-1962 war of independence cost the lives of 1.5 million Algerians, the Algerian government says. Many French also died.

The signature of a treaty of friendship was delayed because France's National Assembly passed a law in February 2005 referring to the "positive role of the French presence overseas, especially in North Africa", and praising Algerians who sided with France during the independence war.

French President Jacques Chirac repealed the law but that did not end the row.

"France has the right to praise those who opted to be French but it does not have the right to praise colonisation," Belkhadem said when asked about the law and Sarkozy's visit.

Sarkozy arrives in Algiers on Monday for two days of talks on migration and counter-terrorism.

Algeria again urges France: admit colonial "crimes"

[Al-khiyal]

ALGIERS, Algeria: Algerian Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem has called on France to recognize colonial-era crimes in his country.

Belkhadem, speaking on Saturday at a party conference before Monday's start of a two-day visit by French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, said France and Algeria have "friendly" relations.

But "these relations cannot mask collective memory," he said.

Algeria is "ready," Belkhadem said, to cooperate with France "so that it recognizes crimes committed against Algerians ... The Algerian can forgive, but will never forget."

Polls in France show Sarkozy is the top center-right contender to succeed Chirac in France's presidential contest next spring. Chirac has not said whether he will seek a third term, but it appears unlikely.

Sarkozy, in an interview with the French-language magazine Jeune Afrique (Young Africa) published last week, said that the colonial era "had its dark moments" and that the slave trade was a crime.

He insisted however that the "duty of memory" about the injustices of the colonial system must not be confused with the French people who lived in, helped build and "loved Africa."

Sarkozy was expected to meet with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Interior Minister Noureddine Zerhouni, and Belkhadem during his visit, focusing on joint efforts to battle illegal immigration and terrorism.

Algeria was the former crown jewel of France's North African colonies, and was under French rule for 132 years before Algerians won independence in 1962 following a brutal eight-year conflict.

Bilateral ties soured last year when France's parliament passed a law requiring textbooks to show the "positive role" that France played in its former colonies. The law embarrassed the French government, and President Jacques Chirac ordered it revamped.

PM calls on France to recognize colonial-era crimes against Algerians

[Al-khiyal]

PARIS: Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy heads Monday to former French colonial crown jewel Algeria, where he is likely to hear new calls for Paris to acknowledge colonial-era crimes in his country.

The two-day visit by Sarkozy, seen as the leading center-right candidate for presidential elections next year, offers France a chance to get bilateral ties back on track after months of renewed tensions.

The trip figures into the swelling campaign for the French presidency: Sarkozy and his main expected rival — Socialist Segolene Royal — in recent months have visited northern and western Africa.

France is facing an erosion of its influence in Africa, as rising powers like China and Russia forge tight economic ties with a continent long considered a French backyard.

Sarkozy has repeatedly called for a new direction for France in both domestic and international affairs — a not-so-veiled criticism of President Jacques Chirac, whom analysts say built his Africa policy on personal ties with national leaders.

In an interview published in weekly Jeune Afrique (Young Africa) last week, Sarkozy said "things won't advance through the familiarity between the French head of state and his counterpart on the continent" — an unmistakable dig at Chirac.

Sarkozy insists he want more frankness between France and Africa. He told the weekly "... it's time to stop repeating that France is in Africa to pillage its resources, because all things considered, we don't need Africa economically."

"France is in Africa with more friendly ambitions," he said.

Sarkozy's trip could revive memories of a March 2003 visit by Chirac to Algeria, where he was greeted with a hero's welcome — in part because of his vocal opposition to the U.S.-led Iraq war. That trip was the first by a French president to Algeria since it gained independence from France more than 40 years earlier.

Any honeymoon of good feeling vanished last year, when the French parliament passed a law requiring textbooks to show the "positive role" that France played in its former colonies.

Chirac's Cabinet was embarrassed, and the clause was eventually deleted. A planned friendship treaty was delayed, and Algerian leaders have repeatedly urged France to apologize for colonial rule ever since.

Algeria is "ready" to cooperate with France "so that it recognizes crimes committed against Algerians," Algerian Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem said. "The Algerian can forgive, but will never forget."

Belkhadem, speaking on Saturday at a party conference, said France and Algeria have "friendly" relations, but "these relations cannot mask collective memory."

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in April accused France of carrying out a "genocide of Algeria's identity," just days before he traveled to France for medical treatment of an illness still shrouded in mystery.

Sarkozy's trip was expected to focus on joint efforts to battle terrorism and curb illegal immigration from Africa — the source of most of immigrants to France. On a trip to Benin and Mali in May, protesters denounced him over a draft law he sponsored to clamp down on uneducated and unskilled immigrants. Some say he wants to poach African minds.

In his visit, Sarkozy is expected to announce faster-track visa processing for Algerians hoping to reach France. Algerians currently have to wait weeks for their visa requests to be processed — a legacy of French security measures set up at the peak of Islamic insurgency in the north African country in the mid-1990s.

Algeria was under French rule for 132 years before Algerians won independence in 1962 in a brutal eight-year conflict. Unlike neighbor countries Tunisia and Morocco, Algeria was considered an integral part of France — virtually on par with regions like Normandy or Provence.

The two countries have been thrust into cooperation on security, with both governments concerned about terrorism by the Salafist Group for Call and Combat, which is believed to be linked to al-Qaida and has called for attacks against U.S. and French interests.

France's Sarkozy heads to Algeria, where leaders urge recognition of colonial-era crimes

[Al-khiyal]

Sarkozy arrives in Algeria

[Al-khiyal]

ALGIERS - France and Algeria need to turn a page on coloniAl era trauma, French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday as he kicked off a two-day visit aimed at easing tensions over the past and resolving problems linked to immigration.

‘I come as a friend. I attach much importance to this trip,’ Sarkozy said on arrival.

Sarkozy arrived to a barrage of questions from the local press, asking whether France would offer an apology for the past after Algerian Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem demanded during a weekend TV show that the former colonial power admit to crimes allegedly committed between 1830 to 1962.

The head of government said France should not only recognize ‘the number of victims and the looting of riches’ but ‘also the deletion of the national identity.’

But Sarkozy, pressed for a response, said ‘if we want to have a joint future, there must be no new humiliations added to so many humiliations on both sides.’

‘Suffering is not just on one side,’ he added. ‘There is suffering on both sides, and each one of us must travel the two sides of the Mediterranean towards appeasement and towards a common future. We should avoid words and deeds that harm, and try to understand.’

Highlighting the North African’s nation’s current coolness towards the former colonial power, Algerian newspapers reserved little space Monday to the visit by the minister, who is expected to be one of the leading candidates for France’s presidential poll next year.

Those papers who did mention the trip appeared pessimistic as to the chances of a revival of Franco-Algerian relations. The independent El-Watan said Sarkozy was on ‘an impossible mission’ while La Tribune urged France ‘to own up to its colonial crimes’.

Sarkozy said on Monday that he had discussed the visit with President Jacques Chirac just prior to his departure for Algiers. ‘Relations between Algeria and France are extremely important. We must talk in a climate of confidence and friendship.’

In terms of concrete issues, Sarkozy, who will be meeting President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Belkhadem and his counterpart Yazid Zerhouni, is to discuss ways of easing entry visas to France for Algerians, who currently are submitted to the formalities required by the 15 European Union nations who have signed the Schengen treaty abolishing internal controls.

Algeria has complained of discrimination as the same procedure is not applied by France to citizens of North African nations Morocco and Tunisia.

Sarkozy will also broach ways of stemming the tide of illegal immigrants who take off in boats from Algerian shores in a bid to reach Europe to find work.

Algeria did not participate in a Euro-African conference on the issue that took place in neighbouring Morocco last July, saying it was not concerned.

But many youngsters from the North African country have joined the legions of unemployed Africans seeking to reach Europe at any cost.

Last weekend Algerian rescue services plucked 63 nationals from waters off the coast while six corpses washed up on beaches last month and 10 young men went missing late August.

Algerian authorities say that each year police stop some 8,000 African would-be emigrants to Europe at the country’s southern borders.

French minister pleads for an end to dispute with Algeria over past

[Al-khiyal]

Nicolas Sarkozy, on an official visit to Algeria, has refused to apologise for French colonial crimes, saying that it is not appropriate for sons to apologise for what their fathers had done. A tricky visit for the Interior Minister:

Nicolas Sarkozy is treading eggshells in Algeria. One of his most delicate official visits continues today with Nicolas Sarkozy playing down calls for an apology from French crimes committed during the colonial era and during the French-Algerian war.

Today, Nicolas Sarkozy will visit the Tibérihine monastery where seven trappist monks were abducted and then assassinated by the GIA in 1996. He will then meet the Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. M. Sarkozy has stressed that he will not sign a friendship treaty with the President.

"That is not my role", said the Interior Minister. "That is the role of the head of state. I find the situation too delicate right now to sign friendship treaties, there is a lot of groundwork to be done beforehand."

Regarding French crimes during the colonial period, which included concentration camps and torture, Nicolas Sarkozy insisted that suffering took place on both sides and that no official apology would be made, despite repeated calls from the Algerian government in recent days.

"Suffering took place on both sides during the colonial period", he said yesterday, "Men and women of both origins suffered, and I have told the Prime Minsiter Abdelaziz Belkhadem that sons cannot apologise for the actions of their fathers".

Sarkozy in Algeria: No apologies

[Al-khiyal]

ALGIERS, Nov 14 (KUNA) -- Visiting French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said here Tuesday his current visit in Algeria is a strong gesture to improve relations between France and Algeria and their people.

Sarkozy told Algerian Radio that Algeria suffered much pain and that the historical past of Algeria and France constituted a shared tragedy and suffering between both countries.

He added that his visit to the Christian Tomb in the Algerian capital, Algiers to pay homage to the martyrs is a strong gesture to mend fences between both French and Algerian people, noting that it is important to put each party's pains into consideration.

However, both countries are important to each other and share a lot of similar things, Sarkozy said.

Asked about the February 2005 law that glorifies the French colonization of Algeria, he said it needs time to overcome related effects as the matters are complicated and there are still many wounds that need to be healed.

Relevant political initiatives need to be taken, he said, noting that politics is a thing and public sentiments regarding common history are a different thing.

To head towards a common future, France and Algeria should not exchange insults.

Earlier on Monday, the French interior minister arrived here on an official visit to Algeria during which he is expected to meet with Algerian officials on issues of mutual concern, including visas, fight against terror and illegal immigration.

It is the fourth visit by Sarkozy since 2004. He visited the country when he was minister of economy and finance.

The visit comes after Algerian Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem renewed his call on France to admit to crimes it committed during its colonization of Algeria, if it wanted full normalization of bilateral relations.

Ahead of Sarkozy's visit, Belkhadem rapped French right-wingers and intellectuals for glorifying the French colonization of Algeria.

French interior minister on fence-mending mission in Algeria