French President Emmanuel Macron announced honours on Friday for Algerians who fought alongside French troops in Algeria's war of independence, part of fresh moves to confront France's painful legacy in north Africa.
Macron is to grant national awards to more than 20 former fighters and people who have battled for recognition of the Algerians who fought for Paris in the country's brutal eight-year liberation war.
After a peace accord granted Algerian independence on March 18, 1962, only around 60,000 Algerian loyalists known as "harkis" were allowed into France. There, they suffered rampant discrimination and, in many cases, poverty.
The rest -- between 55,000 and 75,000, according to historians -- remained in Algeria, where many were massacred after being accused of being traitors. 
Notifications published in the official journal on Friday showed that Macron would grant the Legion d'Honneur, the country's top honour, to six former fighters and the co-founder of an association which has fought for their rights.
Another 19 people are to be granted an Order of Merit, ahead of France's National Harki Day on September 25.
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