Chirac 'horrified' by war claims

Chirac has called for disciplinary action against Aussaresses

PARIS, France -- French President Jacques Chirac says he is "horrified" by a former French general's claims of torture and killing during the Algerian independence war more than four decades ago.

General Paul Aussaresses has described atrocities carried out by French forces in a book and a newspaper interview, both published this week.

He also says that torture was "efficient" and that his conscience was clear.

On Friday Chirac, who served in the Algerian war as a young lieutenant, said: "The full truth must come out about these unjustifiable acts."

AUDIO Human Rights Watch's Richard Dicker: 'Stunning and shocking information' 661 K/61 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

Chirac ordered Aussaresses to be suspended from the Legion of Honor, France's most prestigious award, and asked Defence Minister Alain Richard to propose eventual disciplinary action.

A statement from the Elysee Palace said Chirac "asked the Minister of Defence to propose what disciplinary measures can be taken against this general."

Chirac also urged historians to quickly shed light on the war period, studying archives made available for the first time last month.

France's eight-year-long war in Algeria ended in 1962 with Algeria's independence from France.

Aussaresses, now 83, was one of two top generals who first admitted in interviews in November with the newspaper Le Monde that torture was "generalised."

A former World War II resistance fighter, he said he personally killed 24 Algerians.

His book -- "Special Services: Algeria 1955-57" -- recounts torture and summary executions by French soldiers in their battle with Algeria's National Liberation Front.

His most damaging claim is that the government, through an emissary of then justice minister Francois Mitterrand, who went on to become president, knew of the practices and condoned them.

"As for torture, it was tolerated if not actively encouraged," Aussaresses writes. "He (the emissary) knew exactly what went on during the night."

Last month, a mass grave containing the bodies of about 300 Algerian fighters was found at the site of a former French army headquarters in Algeria.

The skeletons, many showing signs of torture, were dated to the 1954-1962 Algerian independence war, the Algerian War Veterans Ministry said.

In Wednesday's Le Monde, Aussaresses conceded he led what amounted to a death squad.

"It's efficient, torture," he was quoted as saying.

"The majority of people crack and talk. Then, most of the time, we kill them. Did this pose problems of conscience? I have to say no. I was used to those things."

Amnesty International said on Friday: "If France is able to bring to trial war criminals from the Vichy period, it must also be possible for France to live up to its legal obligations in relation to the Algerian war."

There have been claims of brutal acts by soldiers during the war, but the dark period has long been shrouded in secrecy.

Only in November, with the publication of interviews with Aussaresses and another top officer, General Jacques Massu, now aged 92 and the hero of the 1957 Battle of Algiers, did the issue come fully into the open.

Massu told Le Monde in November about the "institutionalised" nature of torture, a rare public admission of what was long suspected.

The two generals' initial remarks touched off a debate about whether France should apologise for its actions.

However, Prime Minister Lionel Jospin ruled out "an act of collective repentance."

Instead, he has ordered the government's archives, including military records, to be opened to historians.

Mass grave from Algerian war found
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Algerian War of Independence
French Government
Le Monde

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