French Muslims welcomed the new memorial, hoping it would help heal old wounds and ease tensions in the West European country. (Reuters)

VERDUN, France — French President Jacques Chirac inaugurated on Sunday, June 26, a memorial for thousands of Muslim soldiers from former colonies who fought for France during the World War I, a gesture many believe was long overdue.

"This ceremony reminds us of the moment in its history, at Verdun and for Verdun, that the French nation came together and went forth to the end," said Chirac while unveiling the white-walled Moorish-style monument, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

"In that war, under our flag, there were Moroccan infantrymen, Senegalese, Algerian and Tunisian riflemen, soldiers from Madagascar and also from Indochina, from Asia, from Oceania.

"The republic survived the unprecedented shock of the First World War thanks to the admirable will of its soldier-citizens," he said.

The ceremony was the high point of commemorations marking the 90th anniversary of the battle of Verdun.

That 10-month clash resulted in a total 300,000 deaths on the French and German sides. An estimated 35,000 of them were Muslim soldiers fighting for France.

The memorial, topped by a cupola built at a cost of 500,000 euros, is a belated recognition for Arab and Muslim soldiers from Africa who fought German troops under France's flag.

A monument to Jewish soldiers built in 1938 stands nearby.

France mobilized close to 600,000 people from former colonies, including many from Muslim territories such as Algeria and Tunisia, during World War I.

Nearly 78,000 Muslim soldiers were killed in the war.

Closing Wounds

French Muslims welcomed the new memorial, hoping it would help heal old wounds and ease tensions in the West European country.

"I hope (this provides) an impulse for the future for a closer integration of all of France's Muslim communities which are also ... completely French communities, thanks in no small part to the blood they have shed," said Dalil Boubakeur, the head of the French Council of Muslim Faith (CFCM).

Muslim leaders in France have maintained that the integration of Muslim troops into the French army in the wars laid the foundations of Islam in France.

France is home to between six and seven million Muslims, the biggest Muslim minority in Europe.

Historically, the contribution of soldiers from France's colonial empire in both world wars has been overlooked.

But this year -- in the wake of riots on the outskirts of French cities last November largely fuelled by a sense of alienation among youths of immigrant North African families -- the tide has turned.

At the Cannes film festival in May, "Days of Glory", a French-Algerian film about the sacrifices of North African soldiers, and they prejudices they endured, in World War II earned its cast a collective best actor's prize.

Pervasive racism against French people of Arab and African background has fuelled disgruntlement among youths in impoverished, high-immigrant areas.

Many feel trapped in the drab suburbs, built in the 1960s and 1970s to house waves of immigrant workers.

Last year, thousands of youths of African and Arab origin took to the streets in destructive riots to tell the government "enough is enough."

The government has responded with a mix of tough immigration laws and increased efforts to recognize minority groups.