Algeria's Tebboune: France must free itself from 'colonizer complex'

Algeria's head of state, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, said on Saturday that France must set itself free from its "colonizer complex" for diplomatic relations to be reshaped between the two countries.

"The relations between the two countries need -- in order to cool down -- France to liberate itself from its colonizer complex and Algeria from its colonized complex," Tebboune said at an interview with Le Figaro.

"We must take into account the 132 years of occupation because it did not start with the war of independence. There are proven, archived, and documented facts, and we cannot hide the writings attest," said Tebboune.

He further called on the former colonial empire to "decontaminate" the tests site where it conducted nuclear drills, adding that France must cover the medical expenses of people that were affected in the areas, namely Reggane and Tamanrasset.

French President Emmanuel Macron has long brushed aside the possibility of issuing a formal apology for the North African country over France's colonial past.

During Algeria's independance war between 1954 and 1962, it is estimated that French troops killed 1.5 million Algerians. In October, Algeria's presidential office said that over 5.6 million Algerians were killed during the colonial period.

In recent times, Algeria has been strengthening its ties with China in a bid to "contribute to the emergence of a multipolar world away from unilateral policies and hegemonic endeavors," according to a statement made in early December by Algeria's Prime Minsiter.