President Emmanuel Macron on Friday recognized that Larbi Ben M'hidi, a key figure in Algeria's War of Independence against France, had been killed by French soldiers after his arrest in 1957, the French presidency said, AFP reported.
"He recognized today that Larbi Ben M'hidi, a national hero for Algeria... was killed by French soldiers," the presidency said on the 70th anniversary of the revolt that sparked the war, in a new gesture of reconciliation by Macron towards the former colony.
On September 13, 2018, Macron officially acknowledged that the French state was responsible for the disappearance of Maurice Audin, an anti-colonial activist who was arrested during the 1957 Battle of Algiers and never seen again.
Also, on March 3, 2021, the French president admitted that the French army was behind 1957 death of Ali Boumendjel during Battle of Algiers. Before this, Boumendjel, was said to have died after falling from a sixth-floor window.
However, the Elysée affirmed in its statement that he was arrested by the French army, hidden, tortured then assassinated on 23 March 1957.
