Algeria’s powerful army chief is on a low-key but extraordinary official visit to Paris, the first by a high-ranking Algerian general since independence from France more than six decades ago.
General Said Chanegriha met with President Emmanuel Macron on Monday, the Elysee Palace said, ahead of a meeting on Tuesday with French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu.
Chanegriha was invited to France by his counterpart, the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Thierry Burkhard, who had met him last August during a visit to Algeria by Macron. The French president was on a mission to try to heal the wounds and seek a measure of reconciliation after France’s 132 years as a colonizer.
Algeria was the crown jewel of France’s colonial empire with a special status that made it an integral part of France. Ties between the two countries have been strained since Algeria gained independence in 1962 after a brutal seven-year war.
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Chanegriha’s visit was low-key with no official announcements from the French, in contrast to the Algerian authorities.
The Algerian Defense Ministry said Chanegriha gave Macron a message from President Abdelmadjid Tebboune during their meeting on Monday without disclosing its content. Tebboune is expected to visit Paris later this year.
The French defense minister and General Burkhard were present at the meeting with Macron.
Algerian army chief General Said Chanegriha, left, receives a gift from French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu on January 24, 2023 in Paris.
(Christophe Archambault, Pool via AP)
The two countries have mutual military concerns, especially in the volatile Sahel region that borders southern Algeria and where French troops are fighting Islamic extremists. The French are also likely to be deeply concerned by the increasingly bitter relationship between Algeria and neighboring Morocco over Western Sahara, where Algerian-backed rebels are seeking independence in territory claimed by Rabat.
Chanegriha received a formal welcome Monday at the prestigious Ecole Militaire military institution. A Monday tweet from Burkhard with photos of the ceremony disappeared Tuesday.
In Algeria, the army plays a key role, albeit behind the scenes. Chanegriha’s predecessor, Ahmed Gaid Salah, helped oust the now-deceased President Abdelaziz Bouteflika from office in 2019, ending his 20-year rule amid months of peaceful protest marches.
Gaid Salah visited Paris in 2006, but unofficially, supposedly checking on the health of Bouteflika, who at the time was being treated for stomach problems at a French military hospital.
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The Algerian army emerged from the fighting force in the war of independence. A political wing served as the only political party to rule Algeria for three decades.
While Bouteflika, as president, has visited France and addressed the nation’s parliament, Algeria’s army chief never received an official invitation from Paris before Chanegriha.
