Hopes for Stronger Ties as Hollande Visits Algeria
French President Francois Hollande arrived in Algeria on Wednesday for a landmark visit to the former French territory, amid hopes of a new phase in relations but persistent bitterness over crimes committed during colonial rule.
Hollande was received with full honors by his Algerian counterpart Abdelaziz Bouteflika as he got off the plane.
The French president was accompanied by a 200-strong delegation, including nine government ministers and around 40 business leaders.
"It reflects the political, but also the symbolic and economic importance, that the president attaches to this visit," Hollande spokesman Romain Nadal said.
The socialist president's visit comes after a period of lukewarm ties with the energy-rich north African country under his rightwing predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy, and in the year that Algeria celebrates 50 years of independence.
French-language newspaper El-Watan, in an editorial on Wednesday, called for French recognition of "the colonial past and crimes of colonization," saying such a move would "soothe memories that are still painful."
But there are high hopes in both countries that the two-day visit will mark a "new stage" after Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika called last week for "a strong and dynamic relationship with France."
Hollande and Bouteflika are due to sign a "joint declaration" -- one of numerous planned accords, including in the defense, industry and agricultural fields -- which is expected to pave the way for extensive future cooperation.
Projects likely to benefit include the construction of a factory by vehicle manufacturer Renault -- which has said it will sign the agreement on Wednesday -- the operations of French cement group Lafarge and the teaching of French in Algerian schools.
The two states are bound together by human, economic and cultural ties.
More than half a million Algerians live in France, and hundreds of thousands of others hold French nationality, but many are also frustrated at not being able to obtain visas and seek a better life in Europe.
A poll published by Algerian daily Liberte said 57 percent of Algerians were in favor of a special relationship with France.
On the other side, it said 35 percent of French people believe Hollande should "in no circumstances" apologize to Algeria for the colonial past, against 13 percent who think he should.
Algeria is an important supplier of oil to France, its top trade partner, while for Paris, Algiers is a key ally in the fight against armed Islamists in the Sahel.
But France's presence in the Algerian market has met stiff competition, particularly from China, the United States, Spain and Italy.
Ahead of Hollande's visit, political parties, including four Islamist groupings, denounced "the refusal of the French authorities to recognize, apologize and compensate, materially and morally, the crimes committed by colonial France in Algeria."
They accused their own government of "indulgence" for not insisting on it.
Hollande in October recognized the "bloody repression" of Algerian protesters by police in Paris in October 1961, which historians say killed dozens, possibly hundreds, but analysts said he was unlikely to go much further during his visit.
His aides said he was prepared to take a lucid look at the past, while not taking the road of official repentance, an issue that is likely to arise on Thursday when he addresses the Algerian parliament.
Human rights groups have urged Hollande to press the Algerian authorities on their rights record, charging that it has actually deteriorated since an April 2011 promise of reform.
The Arab Spring uprisings of last year began in neighboring Tunisia but Algeria has been largely spared the upheaval amid a legacy of public war-weariness from the devastating conflict with Islamist militants that rocked the country in the 1990s.
Source: Agence France Presse
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