French colonisation 'genocide'

2006-04-18 11:23

Algiers - Colonisation was a form of "genocide" for Algeria's identity and traditions, said President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Monday in his latest strong comments about France's historical role in North Africa.

French-Algerian relations had been tenser since France passed a law last year requiring textbooks to show the "positive role" the country played in its former colonies.

The law was an embarrassment for the government, and President Jacques Chirac said in January that it should be revamped.

Observers said the law had stalled and possibly even scuppered a French-Algerian friendship treaty that was originally planned for 2005, and Bouteflika had used tougher language about France since the law was passed.

Bouteflika said: "Colonisation brought the genocide of our identity, of our history, of our language, of our traditions." In the past, Bouteflika had equated France's law with "mental blindness" and revisionist history.

The law, which parliamentarians passed quietly, incensed many in former French territories in North Africa and the Caribbean, who accused France's leaders of trying to gild the past. It had not been enforced.

Algeria, France's one-time colonial jewel, won independence in 1962 after a brutal eight-year conflict.

- AP