Hollande restores French nationality to colonial era fighters Francois Hollande leads a ceremony restoring French nationality for 28 former Senegalese Tirailleurs, a corps of colonial infantry in the French Army. The men, from Senegal, Congo, Central African Republic and Ivory Coast, fought as part of the French army in Indochina or in Algeria, before losing their nationality when the African colonies gained independence in 1960. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES