聽In this file photo taken on July 3, 1962, Algerian troops of the National Liberation Army (ALN) parade in front of the Palais de Sports in Oran, during a ceremony celebrating Algeria鈥檚 independence. AFP
础尝骋滨贰搁厂鈥�Algeria marks 60 years of independence from France on Tuesday with a huge military parade, but memories of violence during the colonial period continue to overshadow ties between the two.
The North African country won its independence following a gruelling eight-year war, which ended with the signing in March 1962 of the Evian Accords.
On July 5 of the same year, days after 99.72 percent voted for independence in a referendum, Algeria finally broke free from colonial rule 鈥� but memories of the 132-year occupation continue to mar its ties with France.
Authorities on Friday closed a 16-kilometer (10-mile) stretch of a major artery in Algiers for the army to carry out final rehearsals for its parade, the first in 33 years.
The closure has caused huge tailbacks on roads leading to the eastern suburbs of the capital.
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune is to preside over the parade, hosting several foreign dignitaries including Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, Tunisia鈥檚 Kais Saied and Niger鈥檚 Mohamed Bazoum.
The government has even commissioned a logo 鈥� a circle of 60 stars containing military figures and equipment 鈥� to mark 鈥渁 glorious history and a new era鈥�.
Algeria鈥檚 war of independence left hundreds of thousands of dead, but six decades on, despite a string of gestures by French President Emmanuel Macron, France has ruled out any form of apology for the colonial period.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no way we can forget or erase the human genocide, the cultural genocide and the identity genocide of which colonial France remains guilty,鈥� said Salah Goudjil, speaker of the Algerian parliament鈥檚 upper house, in an interview published by newspaper L鈥橢xpression on Monday.
French-Algerian ties hit a low late last year after Macron reportedly questioned whether Algeria had existed as a nation before the French invasion and accused its 鈥減olitical-military system鈥� of rewriting history and fomenting 鈥渉atred towards France鈥�.
Algeria withdrew its ambassador in response, but the two sides appear to have mended ties since.
Macron and Tebboune confirmed in a June 18 phone call their desire to 鈥渄eepen鈥� relations and Tebboune invited his French counterpart to visit Algiers.