THE family of an Algerian independence war fighter tortured by French special forces has filed a suit against French General Paul Aussaresses for war crimes and torture, the daily El Watan reported in Algiers on Monday. The state prosecutor in Tebessa, where the suit was lodged in court, said it could lead to the issuing of an international arrest warrant for Aussaresses, who has recently acknowledged heading torture and murder squads during the war of 1954 to 1962. The court has accepted the case lodged by the family of Messaoud Amrani, who was arrested and tortured by the special services of the French colonial army, El Watan said. Amrani died after the war. French authorities have already begun disciplinary proceedings against Aussaresses (83), and French President Jacques Chirac has urged that he be stripped of the Legion of Honour, one of France’s most distinguished awards.
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