FRANCETV NEWS. Emmanuel Macron “recognizes” in a letter “the massacre” of African riflemen in Thiaroye in 1944, says the president of Senegal

Bassirou Diomaye Faye explained to France 2 that she hoped for “frank and complete collaboration from France” for “the manifestation of the whole truth”.

The Senegalese president Bassirou Diomaye Faye announced in an interview with France 2, Thursday November 28, that Emmanuel Macron “recognizes” in a letter the massacre of African riflemen in Thiaroye in 1944. The head of state believes that itshe “must open the door to perfect collaboration for the manifestation of the whole truth about this painful event”.

On December 1, 1944, French colonial forces opened fire on 1,600 African riflemen who had gathered for two weeks in a camp in this town in Senegal upon their return from the front, while they were demanding payment of their arrears of pay and various bonuses and combat allowances.

French authorities at the time admitted the deaths of at least 35 people. Several historians put forward a much higher number of victims, up to several hundred.

In the letter, which France Télévisions was able to consult, Emmanuel Macron believes that “France must recognize that on that day, the confrontation between soldiers and riflemen who demanded that their entire legitimate pay be paid, triggered a chain of events which resulted in a massacre.”.

The French president also welcomes “the memory of all the riflemen, from Senegal and elsewhere, valiant fighters who took a preponderant part, alongside of the troops of Free France and our allies, to the Liberation of France”.

“Obviously, there is something that has been hidden, we have regularly tried to put a lead cover”estimated Bassirou Diomaye Faye. The Senegalese president hope for collaboration “free and complete of France”.

He will participate in a ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of this massacre, Sunday in Thiaroye, in the presence of the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot.