ALGIERS, 9 May 2005 — Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has called on France to admit its part in the massacres of 45,000 Algerians who took to the streets to demand independence as Europe celebrated victory over Nazi Germany on May 8, 1945.
Algeria is marking the 60th anniversary of the repression of pro-independence demonstrators under French colonial rule as Europeans celebrate the end of World War II in Europe.
“The paradox of the massacres of May 8, 1945, is that when the heroic Algerian combatants returned from the fronts in Europe, Africa and elsewhere where they defended France’s honor and interests ... the French administration fired on peaceful demonstrators,” Bouteflika said in a speech published by state media yesterday.
Colonial forces launched an air and ground offensive against several eastern cities, particularly Setif and Guelma, in response to anti-French riots, which killed more than 100 Europeans.
The crackdown lasted several days and according to the Algerian state left 45,000 people dead. European historians put the figure at between 15,000 and 20,000. It marks one of the darkest chapters in the history of Algeria and France, which ruled the North African country with an iron fist from 1830 until 1962.
France’s ambassador to Algeria said in February that the Setif massacre was an “inexcusable tragedy”. It was the most explicit comments by the French state on the disputed event.
“The Algerian people are still waiting for France ... that the declarations of the ambassador of France are followed by a more convincing gesture,” Bouteflika said in the speech given in Setif on Saturday.
Thousands of Algerians marched in Setif yesterday to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the massacre.
The cortege followed the same route that the ill-fated protesters took on May 8, 1945, calling for an end to French rule in Algeria. That same day, across the Mediterranean, Europe feted the Allied victory over Nazi Germany.
“We wanted to pay tribute to the martyrs of May 8, 1945, by taking the same route,” said Abdelhamid Salakdji, local representative of the May 8 Foundation, created in a bid to force France to admit its responsibility for the killings.
“We want to send a message to (French President) Jacques Chirac. Germany asked for France’s forgiveness. Why doesn’t France do the same thing in Algeria?” Salakdji asked.
In France, hundreds of Algerian and Moroccan immigrants demonstrated in Paris to mark the anniversary, holding signs that read “Chirac is killing hope in Africa” and “May 8, 1945: day of celebration, day of mourning”. French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier earlier called on Paris and Algiers to work to overcome the most painful chapters in their shared history.
“To build a common future, we need to look together at the past, in order to overcome the chapters most painful for our two peoples,” Barnier said in an interview published yesterday in the Algerian daily El-Watan.
Barnier also said researchers from both countries, who now have access to most of the archives from the period when Algeria was a French territory, are trying to clear up the disputed history.
