BBC Paris Correspondent Allan Little presents a three-part series on the state and history of Franco-Arab relations.

He visits Algeria and Syria to examine what France is doing in the Arab world - what it stands for and the relationship it has forged.

At least five million Arabs live in France, by far Europe's biggest Muslim community.

While hostility towards Britain and America - particularly over Iraq - is almost universal from Casablanca to Damasacus, France is widely seen as the defender of Arab interests.

But what does that mean? Whose interests does France defend - ordinary Arabs, or those Arab governments with no popular legitimacy?

Is France a force for democratic change - or is it simply pursuing its own interests in the region?