ALGIERS – Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune confirmed on Sunday that the rights of the Algerian people will never be forgotten, and that France must acknowledge the killings and atrocities committed against Algerians during the colonial era.
In his speech before both chambers of Parliament at the Palace of Nations in Algiers, President Tebboune said, “Those who claim colonisation left Algeria a paradise should know that, upon independence, 90% of the Algerian population was illiterate,” adding that “colonisation left destruction in Algeria,” and “they must recognise the killings and massacres of Algerians.”
The president also emphasised that General Bugeaud was responsible for massacring Algerians, and that “those who claim civilisation are simultaneously proud of stealing skulls as spoils.” Additionally, he reiterated the demand to remove nuclear waste from Algeria’s desert.
In another context, President Tebboune reaffirmed Algeria’s “unwavering support for the Palestinian cause.”
Regarding the Western Sahara issue, President Tebboune said that the idea of autonomy “is a French concept, not a Moroccan one, and we have been aware of this for decades.”
“The options for solving the Western Sahara issue for them range from bad to worse, and it is a matter of decolonisation and the right to self-determination.”
