France pays Algerian fighters

2004-07-19 13:18

Algiers - France will pay €64m to Algerian veterans who helped free the country from the Nazi yoke in World War II, the French defence minister said.

Michele Alliot-Marie, on a three-day trip to the north African country in the midst of improving bilateral ties, also announced a co-operation accord that will involve sales of military hardware.

Alliot-Marie, speaking to reporters late on Saturday, said France "is aware of what it owes Algeria" - which won independence in 1962 after more than 130 years of French rule.

"This sum of money ... is a sign of the recognition to the fighters who accepted sacrifice and took risks to liberate France," she told reporters, referring to the €64m package.

A total of 35 500 Algerians served among French forces in the two world wars and in the failed effort to retain France's colonial holdings in Indochina. The minister did not say how many Algerians were to benefit from the package.

Meanwhile, the co-operation accord signed on Saturday will involve sales by France of military hardware to Algeria "according to need," Alliot-Marie said.

"These arms will be used jointly," she said. "It is not an end in itself, because it will especially be a question of continuing to develop exchanges under international law."

Earlier on Saturday, Alliot-Marie met with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to discuss the potential for greater military co-operation and seek to overcome past tensions.

"Our common history has known some difficult moments, some moments of clashes," she said, likely referring to Algeria's war of independence from 1954 to 1962. "Some scars remain today."

Her trip, including visits with other officials and women's groups, was the first by a French defence minister since Algerian independence. She was to return home on Sunday afternoon.

- AP