French book's colonisation definition fans debate

PARIS, Sep 5 (Reuters) A French dictionary's definition of colonisation seeks to glorify the past and must be withdrawn, an anti-racism group said today, amid a tense debate over France's colonial legacy.

''To colonise: colonising a country in order to enhance it, exploit its wealth,'' reads the definition in the Petit Robert 2007, a major reference book for schoolchildren and adults.

The MRAP group said experts should define colonisation by taking into account all ''experiences, suffering and damages caused by this crime against humanity''.

''Facing this new attempt to rehabilitate and glorify colonialism, MRAP is asking for the pure and simple withdrawal of this dictionary,'' it said in a statement.

The dictionary's editors were not immediately available for comment.

The debate over France's colonial past comes at a time when the country is divided over a tough new immigration bill and still stunned by suburban riots last year that involved youths from ethnic minorities.

A law urging teachers to stress the ''positive role in the French (colonial) presence overseas'' sparked a storm of protests at home and in former colonies in West Africa.

Critics of the law asked whether France, whose empire ended in wars in Indochina and Algeria, had learned anything from its colonial experience. President Jacques Chirac ordered the repeal of the law after weeks of debate.

France ruled more than one-third of Africa at the height of its empire and is still deeply engaged in several former colonies, with peacekeepers in Ivory Coast and big investments in many countries in West Africa.

REUTERS DH PM0153