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Algeria reminded France of a particularly dark chapter of its colonial past during an otherwise celebratory opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics on Friday.

Algerian athletes brought red roses on their boat as they paraded for the event, and then tossed them into the river to honour victims of an infamous 1961 police massacre of Algerian protesters in Paris. Some members of the delegation chanted “Long live Algeria!” in Arabic after throwing the flowers.

Historians say some 120 protesters were killed and 12,000 were arrested as they demonstrated on October 17, 1961 in support of independence from France, then Algeria’s colonial ruler. Some were thrown in the Seine River by police.

Kaci Yahia, an Algerian worker for the Paris sewage system, was among them. His body was never recovered. His 28-year-old grandson Yanis, watching from Algeria, welcomed the commemoration by his country's delegation Friday.

"To make such a gesture, the day of the opening of the Olympics in Paris, is a monumental homage to the victims of Oct. 17. It's a moment of immense emotion,'' he said.

Other Algerians said the Olympics weren't the moment for such a protest move.

French authorities sought to cover up the 1961 massacre for decades. recently acknowledged that “crimes” committed that day were “inexcusable for the Republic.”

Algeria won independence in 1962 after 132 years under colonial rule.