France, Algeria Have to Recognize Their Mistakes Before Asking Paris to Apology for Colonial Crimes, Chevenement

Former French Minister of Interior, Jean Pierre Chevenement said Algeria and France have both to recognize their mistakes committed 50 years ago, before talking about any apology of Paris for crimes committed during the colonial era in the North Africa nation.

On the sidelines of international conference on Emir Abdelkader, being held in Tlemcen western province, Mr Chevenement, who is Head of France Algeria Friendship Association, told reporters that Algeria should recoup the archive being stored at the French Ministry of Defense, saying “I’ve been given some interesting archive documents by father Jacque Parck, who tasked me to offer it to the National Library of Algiers.”
As for demands requiring France to apology and recognize the crimes aginst humanity committed in Algeria during the colonial era (1830-1962), Former French Minister of Defense resorted to diplomacy while saying: “I think such an apology should be committed to the common conscience of both France and Algeria, and both nations have to recognize their mistakes in order to constitute for a common future.”
Meanwhile, the interlocutor “ridiculed” the recent controversial statements of French Minister of Interior for Immigration, Claude Gueant, who alleged that “not all civilizations had equal value.”
He indicated that “cultures precede civilizations,” adding that Gueant’s statements “are mere stupidities, no more, no less!”