France admits killing Algerian nationalist Ali Boumendjel

France has admitted that a prominent Algerian nationalist was tortured and murdered by its army more than 60 years ago.

Ali Boumendjel was arrested during the Algerian War of Independence in 1957, and his death shortly after was covered-up as a suicide, reports the BBC.

But, in a meeting with Boumendjel's grandchildren on Tuesday, President Emmanuel Macron reassessed the death.

"[He] did not commit suicide. He was tortured and then killed," he said.

Algeria gained independence from France in 1962 after a bloody seven-year war.

Boumendjel, a 37-year-old lawyer and nationalist, was active in the campaign against French colonial rule. He was detained during the Battle of Algiers and placed in solitary confinement by French troops.

The activist was then killed and thrown from the sixth-floor of a building in an effort to disguise his death as a suicide.

Macron said the latest admission was made "in the name of France".

The rare act is one of a series of measures aimed at improving relations between France and Algeria and the way both countries remember the war that ended colonial rule.