France, Algeria To Set Up Joint Historian Committee On French Colonial Rule, Macron Says

PARIS, France - French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday he wanted to build the future of Franco - Algerian relations by confronting a painful colonial past but also by focusing on future challenges.

'We have a complex, paingul common past. And it has at times prevented us from looking at the future', Macron said after meeting with Algeria President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on the first of a three - day visit to the North African country.

He said a joint committee with historians from both Algeria and France will be set up to study the archives on both sides on the colonial period.