Algerians Report New Mass Grave From French War

The remains of 57 people, apparently executed by the French during the Algerian War, have turned up in an abandoned zinc mine southeast of Algiers, the daily El Moudjahid reported Sunday.

The newspaper said all the victims appeared to have been shot or strangled with wire and that French soldiers dynamited the mine shaft before leaving in 1962.

The remains will be buried Tuesday, the report said, the same day that ceremonies will be held throughout Algeria to mark the 30th anniversary of the massacre of an estimated 12,000 Algerians by French soldiers and paramilitary defense groups.

French officials at the time charged that Algerian guerrillas had killed 123 Europeans, including women and children.

Since Algeria achieved independence in 1962, other mass graves, usually containing a dozen or so bodies, have been found around the country. The largest, with the remains of 984 people, was found in 1982 near the small village of Khenchela in eastern Algeria.

There was no French reaction to the reported discovery.