Algeria - (Saba):
Algeria has declared 12 French embassy employees persona non grata and given them 48 hours to leave the country, according to French media reports on Monday.
Le Figaro newspaper reported, citing a French source, that "the Algerian authorities have decided to expel 12 employees from the French embassy and have given them 48 hours to leave the country, an unprecedented measure since 1962."
The newspaper added that "the employees in question are affiliated with the French Ministry of the Interior, meaning that the decision targets Minister Bruno Rotailo. It is also a response to the arrest and temporary detention of an Algerian consular employee in France."
The Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Sunday that it had summoned French Ambassador Stéphane Romatet and conveyed Algeria's strong protest against the French judiciary's decision to indict and detain a diplomat.
A statement issued by the Algerian Foreign Ministry read: "The Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Lounes Mekreman, received the French Ambassador to Algeria, Mr. Stéphane Romatet, last Saturday at the Ministry's headquarters."
The statement added, "The purpose of this meeting is to express Algeria's strong protest against the decision of the French judicial authorities to indict one of its consular agents working on French soil and place him in pretrial detention, as part of the opening of a judicial investigation into the alleged kidnapping of the renegade "Amir Boukhors," known as "Amir D.Z." in 2024."
The statement affirmed that Algeria categorically rejects, in both form and substance, the reasons presented by the French Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office to justify its decision to place the consular employee in pretrial detention.
This comes a week after French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced the full resumption of relations between his country and Algeria, following recent tensions in relations.
After meeting with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on April 6, Barrot said, "We are announcing a new phase in relations with Algeria."
He added that a shared desire was expressed [with the Algerian president] to lift the curtain in order to rebuild a calm dialogue, announcing the comprehensive resumption of bilateral relations.
Earlier this month, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed to immediately resume security cooperation between the two countries, stressing the need for the immediate resumption of cooperation on migration in a "credible, smooth, and effective" manner.
At the end of last January, the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it had summoned the French ambassador and conveyed the government's protest against the "provocative treatment" Algerian citizens were subjected to at Paris airports.
On January 11, Algeria announced its rejection of French accusations of "escalation and humiliation" against Paris, denouncing "the far-right's involvement in a campaign of disinformation and distortion against it."
This was preceded by a statement by French Interior Minister Bruno Rotellau that Algeria was seeking to humiliate France after it refused to receive an activist deported by Paris to France.
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