Tebboune: Algeria Expects France to Apologize for Colonial Past

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune talks to the press during a news conference, in Algiers, Algeria December 13, 2019. REUTERS/Ramzi Boudina
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune talks to the press during a news conference, in Algiers, Algeria December 13, 2019. REUTERS/Ramzi Boudina
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Tebboune: Algeria Expects France to Apologize for Colonial Past

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune talks to the press during a news conference, in Algiers, Algeria December 13, 2019. REUTERS/Ramzi Boudina
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune talks to the press during a news conference, in Algiers, Algeria December 13, 2019. REUTERS/Ramzi Boudina

Algeria is waiting for an apology for France's colonial occupation of the country, the president said, expressing hope that Emmanuel Macron would build on recent conciliatory overtures.

"We have already had half-apologies. The next step is needed... we await it," President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said Saturday in an interview with news channel France 24.

"I believe that with President Macron, we can go further in the appeasement process... he is a very honest man, who wants to improve the situation."

France's 132 years of colonial rule in Algeria, and the brutal eight-year war that ended it, have left a legacy of often prickly relations between the two countries.

In what has been seen as a thaw in ties, Algeria on Friday received the skulls of 24 resistance fighters decapitated during the colonial period.

The skulls will be laid to rest in the martyrs' section of the capital's El Alia cemetery on Sunday -- the 58th anniversary of Algeria's independence -- according to media reports.

Tebboune said an apology from France would "make it possible to cool tensions and create a calmer atmosphere for economic and cultural relations", especially for the more than six million Algerians who live in France.

In December 2019, Macron said that "colonialism was a grave mistake" and called for turning the page on the past.

During his presidential election campaign, he had created a storm by calling France's colonization of Algeria a "crime against humanity".

UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet has urged countries to make amends for "centuries of violence and discrimination".



Asharq Al-Awsat Reveals Details of Gaza Ceasefire Proposal

A man inspects the remains of a site that was hit by Israeli bombardment east of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on January 14, 2025 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP)
A man inspects the remains of a site that was hit by Israeli bombardment east of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on January 14, 2025 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP)
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Asharq Al-Awsat Reveals Details of Gaza Ceasefire Proposal

A man inspects the remains of a site that was hit by Israeli bombardment east of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on January 14, 2025 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP)
A man inspects the remains of a site that was hit by Israeli bombardment east of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on January 14, 2025 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP)

The parties involved in negotiations in the Qatari capital were on Tuesday hoping to finalize a plan to end the war in the Gaza Strip and agree on a prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel.

It is likely that the agreement would be announced on Tuesday, unless new obstacles or conditions are imposed by Israel, several sources said. The deal, if reached, is expected to take effect 48 hours after the announcement.

Hamas sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the first phase of the agreement will last 60 days. They said Israeli ground forces will gradually withdraw from the Netzarim and Philadelphi corridors.

The sources familiar with the negotiations in Doha explained that the withdrawal from the Netzarim axis will be immediate. The withdrawal from the Philadelphia axis will begin gradually after 40 to 50 days from the start of the first phase.

Displaced people will be allowed to return on foot starting the seventh day of the ceasefire, without any searches. However, vehicles returning from southern Gaza to the north will be inspected using X-ray scanning equipment operated by Egyptian-Qatari companies, under the supervision and monitoring of several parties, including Israel, to prevent the transport of weapons.

The sources revealed that an agreement was reached on Monday night on a mechanism for the redeployment of Israeli forces, allowing them to remain in the border perimeter at varying distances of up to 700 meters, particularly in areas north of the Gaza Strip.

They clarified that after 40 days, the gradual withdrawal will begin from all areas of the Palestinian enclave, in preparation for negotiations concerning the second phase, during which Israeli forces will make a full withdrawal.

The Palestinian resistance will release women, children, and the elderly in exchange for the release of 1,000 prisoners from Gaza who were arrested during the current war, on the condition that they were not involved in the October 7, 2023, attack, the sources said.

They noted that in the first phase, 200 prisoners serving long sentences will also be released.

Regarding the Rafah crossing, the sources confirmed that it will be gradually reopened, allowing the passage of those who are sick and humanitarian cases out of the enclave for treatment, ensuring freedom of movement without the arrest or targeting of travelers by Israeli forces stationed at the Philadelphi corridor.