Macron Says Won’t Apologize to Algeria for Colonization 

French president Emmanuel Macron waits before welcoming Japan's prime minister for a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris on January 9, 2023. (AFP)
French president Emmanuel Macron waits before welcoming Japan's prime minister for a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris on January 9, 2023. (AFP)
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Macron Says Won’t Apologize to Algeria for Colonization 

French president Emmanuel Macron waits before welcoming Japan's prime minister for a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris on January 9, 2023. (AFP)
French president Emmanuel Macron waits before welcoming Japan's prime minister for a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris on January 9, 2023. (AFP)

President Emmanuel Macron has said he will not "ask forgiveness" from Algeria for French colonization but hopes to continue working towards reconciliation with his counterpart Abdelmajid Tebboune. 

"It's not up to me to ask forgiveness, that's not what this is about, that word would break all of our ties," he said in an interview for Le Point magazine published late Wednesday. 

"The worst thing would be to decide: 'we apologize and each go our own way'," Macron said. 

"Work on memory and history isn't a settling of all accounts," he added. 

But in the interview, he also expressed hope that Tebboune "will be able to come to France in 2023", to return Macron's own trip to Algiers last year and continue their "unprecedented work of friendship". 

France's 100-year colonization of Algeria and the viciously fought 1954-62 war for independence have left deep scars on both sides, which Macron has by turns prodded and soothed over his political career. 

In 2017, then-presidential candidate Macron dubbed the French occupation a "crime against humanity". 

A report he commissioned from historian Benjamin Stora recommended in 2020 further moves to reconcile the two countries, while ruling out "repentance" and "apologies". 

Macron has also questioned whether Algeria existed as a nation before being colonized by France, drawing an angry response from Algiers. 

"These moments of tension teach us," Macron told the Algerian writer Kamel Daoud in the interview. 

"You have to be able to reach out your hand again and engage, which President Tebboune and I have been able to do," he added. 

He backed a suggestion for Tebboune to visit the graves of Algerian 19th-century anti-colonial hero Abdelkader and his entourage, who are buried in Amboise in central France. 

"That would make sense for the history of the Algerian people. For the French people, it would be an opportunity to understand realities that are often hidden," Macron said. 

Algeria and France maintain enduring ties through immigration, involvement in the independence conflict and post-war repatriations of French settlers, touching more than 10 million people living in France today. 



Three Arrested Over Tadamon Massacre in Damascus

The suspected location of the Tadamon massacre in Damascus, Syria (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The suspected location of the Tadamon massacre in Damascus, Syria (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Three Arrested Over Tadamon Massacre in Damascus

The suspected location of the Tadamon massacre in Damascus, Syria (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The suspected location of the Tadamon massacre in Damascus, Syria (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Damascus Security Chief Lt. Col. Abdul Rahman Al-Dabbagh announced on Monday the arrest of a key figure involved in the 2013 massacre in the Tadamon district of Damascus, along with two other individuals who participated in the killings.

Al-Dabbagh stated that the suspects confessed to their involvement in a series of atrocities in the area, where more than 500 men and women were executed.

“After monitoring and investigation, we were able to apprehend one of the key criminals responsible for the 12-year-old Tadamon massacre in Damascus,” Al-Dabbagh said, according to the official news agency SANA.

“Following initial interrogations, we identified several other individuals involved in the massacre and arrested two of them,” he added.

Al-Dabbagh further stated that the three detainees confessed to their participation in the atrocities in Tadamon, where more than 500 men and women were executed without trial or charge.

“We are now coordinating with the relevant authorities to locate the sites of these massacres,” confirmed Al-Dabbagh.

“We assure the people of Syria that these criminals will not escape justice, and we will work to bring them before the courts to face a fair trial,” he said.

Al-Dabbagh did not disclose the identities of the three detainees. However, SANA later reported that one of them is named “Monzer Ahmad al-Jazairi” and that he has been referred to the relevant authorities for further investigation.

In a report published on April 27, 2022, The Guardian revealed details of a massacre carried out by Bashar al-Assad’s forces on April 16, 2013 in the Tadamon district.

The attack resulted in the deaths of around 41 people, who were subsequently buried in a mass grave.