France Covers Up Looted Property, Algeria Only Accepts Full Restitution

The French authorities covered up much of the Algerian property looted during the colonial era 1830-1962, which Algeria seeks to restitute as it is an important part of its history, member of the Algerian-French Commission for History and Memory, Mohamed el-Korso said.

In an interview with Radio Algeria International on Wednesday, historian Mohamed el-Korso explained that the French authorities classified much of the Algerian property as purely French, lowering his expectations that France would return the Algerian looted historical artefacts to their owners.

Speaking about the field visits by the Algerian Commission to France to determine the number of looted properties located in French museums and other sites, al-Korso spoke about the most pressing issue: the Algerian archive. He confirmed that the French authorities did not allow the Algerian Commission to view the private content of the entire Algerian archive, under flimsy and meaningless pretexts, stating that this archive was looted a few months before independence so that the Algerians would not know their origins and true identity.

Historian Mohamed el-Korso considered that the current commission is an extension of the Evian Agreement, as the Algerian negotiators were ignorant of many matters at the time. He believed that President Tebboune’s visit to France would determine the commission’s future, calling firmly for the return of all Algerian looted artefacts placed in French museums.

Regarding the commission’s visit to the “Amboise” Palace, el-Korso and the team accompanying him expressed their astonishment that this place was devoid of Algerian heritage properties although it is the place where the Emir Abdelkader was imprisoned, accompanied by his family. He advised President Tebboune to avoid visiting this palace.

It should be noted that many Algerian historians, led by Abou el-Kacem Saadallah, may Allah have mercy on him, spoke about the thousands of manuscripts and books seized by colonial France, immediately after its occupation of Algeria in 1830, in addition to its plundering of the public treasury consisting of millions of Algerian gold and silver coins like the “Riyals” and the “Budju” and non-Algerian, currently estimated at billions of dollars.