Frenchmen learned last week just how close their army had come to open mutiny during the European insurrection in Algiers last January.
The revelation came from officers testifying in the treason trial of 20 Algerian insurrectionists led by Pierre Lagaillarde (who has himself fled to Spain and refuses to return). One by one, they recalled the moment when lines of police advanced on the Algiers barricades with unloaded rifles held aloft and were caught in a 20-minute crossfire from surrounding buildings. Two paratroop regiments were only 300 yds. away but refused to move until the firing was over and more...
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