Half a million Algerians have given French President Jacques Chirac a rousing welcome at the start of his first state visit to the former French colony, expected to give fresh impetus to what are often difficult relations.
Rapturous crowds cheered Chirac today as he was driven in a convertible limousine with his host, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, along the avenues of the Algerian capital.
The three-day trip was the first full-blown state visit by a French president to the North African country since it won independence from France more than 40 years ago.
The visit was charged with emotional and political significance - not only because Chirac, 70, was returning to a land in which he served as an army lieutenant during the 1954-62 Independence War. The brutal conflict ended 132 years of French rule and left deep scars on both sides of the Mediterranean.
"The Algerian war is a painful moment of our common history, that we must not, and cannot ignore," Chirac told Algerian newspapers on the eve of his visit.
The emphasis was on opening a new chapter in relations.
"It is time now to move forward...and build with Algeria a strong, trustful and impartial relationship," he added.Chirac and Bouteflika were expected to sign a friendship treaty modelled on the 1963 Franco-German treaty.Paris would also pledge aid for Algeria's fledgling economic reforms and sign aid accords worth 95 million euros in areas such as housing, water supply and banking.
Chirac's trip follows US moves since the September 11, 2001 attacks to bolster its economic and political influence in a region long-considered France's private backyard.
France's strong stance against war in Iraq - a position that has boosted Chirac's popularity in the Maghreb and deeply irked Washington - would also figure in the talks.