France's Macron calls 1961 massacre of Algerians an 'unforgivable crime'

French President Emmanuel Macron lays a wreath near the Pont de de Bezons, Bezons bridge, during a ceremony commemorating the 60th anniversary of the massacre of October 17, 1961, a murderous repression by the French police, of a demonstration of Algerians in Paris, in the frame of a violent decolonisation process, in Colombes near Paris, France, October 16, 2021. Rafael Yaghobzadeh/Pool via REUTERS

PARIS (Reuters) - Emmanuel Macron on Saturday denounced as an "unforgivable crime" a bloody crackdown on Algerian protesters by police in Paris 60 years ago, the strongest recognition by a French president of a massacre in which many bodies were thrown into the River Seine.

On Oct. 17, 1961, under the orders of then Paris police chief Maurice Papon, police attacked a demonstration by 25,000 pro-National Liberation Front (FLN) Algerians protesting against a curfew imposed on Algerians.