Algeria celebrates 60 years of independence from France

Memories of violence during 132-year occupation continue to harm ties between the countries

• 

  The Algerian air force flies in formation over the capital Algiers, as the country celebrates the 60th anniversary of its independence. AFP

• 

  The national holiday celebrates independence from France on July 5, 1962. AFP

• 

  An Algerian tank drives through a street in the capital Algiers on the country's independence day. AFP

• 

  Algerian soldiers parade down a street in Algiers. AFP

• 

  The Algerian air force. AFP

• 

  Algerian troops with the National Liberation Army parade in front of the Palace of Sports in Oran, in July 1962. AFP

• 

  Youths wave Algerian flags and celebrate in Algiers on July 2, 1962, a day after a referendum on the independence of their country. AFP

• 

  Young Algerians march between the European and Muslim quarters of Algiers in July 1962. AFP

• 

  Rival narratives over atrocities committed during over a century of colonial rule continue to cause bitter diplomatic tension. AFP

• 

  A French soldier looks at a shop destroyed by a Molotov cocktail in Algiers in May 1962, after the signing of the Evian Accords. AFP

• 

  Young Algerians hang a national flag on a wall in Algiers in July 1962. AFP

• 

  A soldier with forces supporting French rule in the North African country stands guard on a roof in Algiers in January 1960, during the Algerian war. AFP

• 

  The Hotel du Parc in Evian-les-Bains in south-easten France in March 1961, where negotiations to end the war in Algeria took place. AFP

• 

  A woman walks next to Algerian flags in the capital, Algiers, on the eve of the country's 60th independence anniversary. EPA

• 

  The statue of Emir Abdelkader in Algiers. The military hero resisted French rule and is considered one of the founders of modern-day Algeria. EPA

Algeria will celebrate 60 years of independence from France with a huge military parade on Tuesday.

The North African country earned its independence with the signing of the Evian Accords, following an eight-year war, in March 1962.

But memories of violence during the 132-year occupation continue to harm ties between the two countries.

Algeria broke free from colonial rule on July 5, 1962 — days after 99.72 per cent of Algerians voted for independence.

Algerians gather in the Kasbah of the capital Algiers to celebrate on July 2, 1962, a day after the self-determination referendum on the independence of their country. AFP

On Friday, a 16-kilometre stretch of a major road in Algiers was closed so the army could carry out final rehearsals for its parade, the first in 33 years.

The closure caused huge tailbacks on roads leading to the eastern suburbs of the capital.

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune is to preside over the parade, hosting several foreign dignitaries including Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, Tunisia's Kais Saied and Niger's Mohamed Bazoum.

The government has even commissioned a logo, a circle of 60 stars containing military figures and equipment, to mark "a glorious history and a new era".

Algeria's war of independence left hundreds of thousands of people dead.

Sixty years later, despite a string of gestures by French President Emmanuel Macron, France has ruled out any form of apology for the colonial period.

"There's no way we can forget or erase the human genocide, the cultural genocide and the identity genocide of which colonial France remains guilty," said Salah Goudjil, speaker of the Algerian parliament's upper house, in an interview published by newspaper L'Expression on Monday.

French-Algerian ties hit a low late last year after Mr Macron reportedly questioned whether Algeria had existed as a nation before the French invasion and accused its "political-military system" of rewriting history and fomenting "hatred towards France".

Algeria withdrew its ambassador in response, but the two sides appear to have mended ties since.

Mr Macron and Mr Tebboune confirmed in a June 18 phone call their desire to "deepen" relations, and Mr Tebboune invited his French counterpart to visit Algiers.