Torture general punished

General Aussaresses: No regrets

The French cabinet has punished a general who has admitted to torturing and killing Algerian prisoners during the country's war of independence.

General Paul Aussaresses, 83, has been forced into full retirement, losing his position in the army reserve, La Chaine Info TV reported.

The cabinet's measure is the first of its kind in 20 years.

President Jacques Chirac signed the decree of "automatic retirement", said the spokeswoman for the Elysee Palace, Catherine Colonna.

This disciplinary action was taken "following a favourable ruling by the Army's Higher Council, a ruling that was made unanimously," Mrs Colonna said.

General Aussaresses shocked France when he admitted to torturing, and ordering his men to torture and execute prisoners during the 1957 Battle of Algiers during Algeria's war of independence from France.

He made no apology for his actions, which he described as an "efficient" method of forcing confessions.

French ministers have called for the general to be prosecuted, despite the existence of an 1968 amnesty for crimes of this nature.

President Jacques Chirac said he should be stripped of the Legion d'Honneur.