French general stripped of rank

PARIS, France (CNN) -- A reserve general in the French army has been drummed out of the service after he publicly defended a police of torture and assassination adopted during the Algerian war.

The Paris government said Paul Aussaresses had harmed the reputation of the military by publishing memoirs defending the practice of executing Algerian guerrillas and civilians during the conflict, which lasted from 1954 to 1962.

Aussaresses had long since retired but was still in the army reserve despite his 83 years.

Wednesday's decision means he may no longer wear his uniform.

The former intelligence officer is already under judicial investigation on suspicion of seeking to justify war crimes.

"The retiring of Gen. Aussaresses was motivated by his repeated statements defending unjustifiable behaviour and presenting it as legitimate during the Algerian conflict," Defence Minister Alain Richard said after a Cabinet meeting.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Jean-Jack Queyranne said army chiefs were in full agreement with the sanction, which had not been meted out for more than 20 years.

Aussaresses stirred up a storm last month by publishing his book, "Services Speciaux Algerie 1955-1957," in which he said the government of the day had known of, and approved, the use of torture and extrajudicial killings in Algeria.

His claims and largely unrepentant stand have reopened deep wounds from the most painful chapter of France's colonial past and revived a debate over whether those responsible can, and should, be brought to trial for atrocities committed there.

The charge of justifying war crimes carries a four-year maximum penalty, much less than a charge of committing them, but Aussaresses is protected by a 1968 amnesty for Algeria veterans.

French law also limits war crimes convictions to acts committed during World War II or after 1994, the date when the present war crimes statute took effect.

President Jacques Chirac has already ordered that Aussaresses be stripped of the Legion d'honneur.

State Prosecutor Jean-Pierre Dintilhac last month said Aussaresses could not be directly investigated for war crimes but would be investigated over the lesser offence, linked to French press laws, of justifying war crimes.

"The acts for which General Aussaresses has acknowledged responsibility and which happened during the Algerian conflict are clearly war crimes," the prosecutor said in a statement.

"They are thus ... covered by the amnesty resulting from the law of July 31, 1968."

The French parliament passed a general amnesty in 1968 for "all infractions" committed during the war.