The first practical disappointment for the French negotiators came with the resolute refusal of the F.L.N. to meet de Gaulle’s “unilateral truce” with anything resembling a reciprocal gesture. On the contrary. The period of May–June showed a fifty per cent increase in the rate of “incidents”; the wounded numbering 121, the dead eighty-five — which included sixty-two “third force” Muslims and twenty French soldiers. From Tunis Yazid declared: “An effective interruption of the fighting can only be the result of a bilateral accord bearing on the overall political problem.” As always, the F.L.N. was remaining rigidly faithful to the line laid down at Soummam in 1956, regardless of whatever concessions de Gaulle might feel impelled to offer; there could be no cease-fire of any sort before a political solution.

Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Alge…, loc. 1427