France admits that French soldiers killed Algerian leader "Ben M'hidi"
French President Emmanuel Macron admitted on Friday that Larbi Ben M'hidi, a leader in the National Liberation Front that led the war of liberation in Algeria, was "killed by French soldiers", on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Algerian revolution.
General Aussaresses, the former intelligence chief in Algeria during the French colonial period, admitted in the early 2000s to killing Ben M'hidi, denying the official account that presented the leader's death in prison in 1957 as a suicide.
In his book "Special Interests in Algeria 1955-1957", published in 2001, Aussaresses admitted that he had practiced torture during the Algerian war of liberation "with the approval, if not the order", of political leaders.
Macron's admission comes at a time of heightened tension between France and Algeria.
The Elysée Palace noted that "the recognition of this murder proves that the work on the historical truth that the President of the Republic has undertaken with (Algerian) President Abdelmadjid Tebboune will continue," noting that Macron's goal is to "achieve the formation of a peaceful and shared memory" between the two countries.
The statement said that "the President is also thinking about the coming generations, as he considers it his duty to always seek ways to reconcile the memories between the two countries."
The statement recalled that Larbi Ben M'hidi - born in 1923 in a village near Ain M'lila in the Aurès Mountains in northeastern Algeria - was the commander of the "Independent Region of Algiers from 1956" during the "Battle of Algiers" in 1957.
The statement continued that "as the President had previously recognized with regard to Maurice Audin and Ali Boumendjel, this repression was accompanied by the application of a system outside the community of human and citizen rights, which was allowed by a vote on special powers in Parliament."
He pointed out that this vote gave the government at that time "absolute powers to restore order in Algeria, and in 1957 allowed the issuance of a decree authorizing the delegation of police duties to the army in Algiers first, and then in all of Algeria."
Macron doubled the initiatives in the memory file, acknowledging the responsibility of the French army in the killing of mathematician Maurice Audin and national lawyer Ali Boumendjel during the "Battle of Algiers," and denouncing the "unjustified crimes" committed by the French army during the massacre of Algerian demonstrators in Paris on October 17, 1961.
In the statement, the French presidency honored the memory of Ben M'hidi, who was one of the most important and intelligent leaders of the National Liberation Front, stressing that "the French military who knew him from his reputation admired him for his charisma and courage."
When he was arrested on February 23, Ben M'hidi was shown to journalists surrounded by French paratroopers, his hands tied, smiling and calm. On July 5, 1962, the Algerians achieved their demand for independence after 7 years of continuous war and 1.5 million martyrs, according to the Algerians, while French historians speak of 500,000 dead.
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