France accused of crimes against humanity

Algerian exiles who served with the French army during the Algerian war of independence are preparing to go to court this week to file a suit accusing France of crimes against humanity.

Some 200,00 Algerians fought alongside the French in the war 40 years ago but when it was lost in 1962, France only took 50,000 of them in.

The rest stayed behind in Algeria, where most of them met their deaths at the hands of the independence forces.

Those who survived became known as Harkis; upon reaching France they were incarcerated for years in camps before finally being allowed to live in run-down housing estates.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service