These revelations followed testimony from a former tortured ALN activist, Louisette Ighilahriz, published in Le Monde on 20 July 2000, three days after the visit to France of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Louisette Ighilahriz declared that she had been tortured for three months and accused as the responsible party General Massu as the then-commander of the French armed forces. Massu used this opportunity to publicly regret the use of torture, declaring that it could have been avoided.[citation needed] On the other hand, General Bigeard violently denied its use.[4][5]