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Chirac Stresses Privileged Ties Between France and Algeria
French President Jacques Chirac stressed Wednesday evening the privileged ties between France and Algeria and called for building a future-oriented relationship based on mutual respect and solidarity.
During a banquet he hosted in honor of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Chirac said that it is time for France and Algeria to move forward and build their relations in serenity, mutual respect,peacefulness and ambition.
Relations between Algeria and France, which is former colonial power of Algeria, have remained highly irritable for both countries while the multi-million strong Algerian community in France is the biggest non-European ethnic group in Europe.
``We have faith in the future of Algeria. The French people are following with much attention and hope the on-going changes in your country,'' Chirac told Bouteflika.
He paid homage to the ``courage and dignity of the Algerian people in their daily fight against terrorism, fanaticism, and barbarity'' and said that France stands by Algeria in this fight and in its effort to renew itself.
Chirac, who served in the French army in Algeria during its war of independence, said that neither France nor Algeria should forget ``the blood shed, the companions fallen and the sufferings endured by all sides'' during the war from 1954 to 1962.
He also praised Bouteflika as ``a statesman who gives hope and courage to a wounded Algeria'' and for giving his country the right place in the international scenery and for winning back the trust of France.
Chirac also said that both the Algerians who immigrated to France and the Frenchmen who returned to France after Algeria won independence are the people who have ``woven between the two shores close and strong ties.''
``Many of them feel themselves to be as Algerian as French,'' he said.
Bouteflika arrived here Wednesday for a four-day state visit, which is aimed at fully rebuilding the ties with France.
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