Algeria Authority Gives 12 French Embassy Officials 48 Hours To Leave

We Will Respond Immediately If… – France

France’s minister of foreign affiairs, Jean-Noel Barrot has said the Algerian authority has asked 12 French embassy staff to leave the country within 48 hours.

Barrot who made this known to news men added that it was linked to the indictment of three Algerians in France on Friday, one of whom is a consular official.

”They are accused of involvement in the abduction last year of Amir Boukhors, 41, a critic of Algeria’s government with a large audience on social media, who was reportedly granted asylum in France in 2023”

Barrot who urged Algeria to abandon the expulsions said France was ready to respond immediately if they went ahead.

On Monday, Barrot said: “I am asking Algerian authorities to abandon these expulsion measures but if the decision to send back our officials is maintained, we will have no other choice but to respond immediately.”

Boukhors, also known as Amir DZ, has lived in France since 2016 and was reportedly granted political asylum in 2023.

He was said to have been abducted in April 2024 in the southern suburbs of Paris and released the following day, according to his lawyer Eric Plouvier.

Plouvier told news men that Boukhors had been the subject of two serious attacks, one in 2022 and another on the evening of April 29 2024.

It was reported in the local media that he was forced into a car with a flashing light by fake police officers, then released the next day without explanation.

The case is the latest in a growing number of incidents to have exacerbated a rift between France and Algeria.

The 12 French officials asked to leave on Monday include some members of the French interior ministry, according to a diplomatic source.

Barrot claimed that the expulsions were a response to the indictment of three Algerian nationals on Friday in Paris – including the consular official – on charges including abduction, arbitrary detention and illegal confinement and participating in a terrorist organization.

Meanwhile, Algeria’s foreign ministry has said it had summoned French ambassador, Stephane Romatet in response to express its strong protest and called for the official’s immediate release.

It added that the individual was arrested in public and then taken into custody without notification through the diplomatic channels.

The ministry claimed the move was not a coincidence as it happens in a very specific context with the aim of stymying the process of relaunching bilateral relations.

Tentative steps have been made to repair relations between the two nations with a phone call between French President Emmanuel Macron and President Abdelmadjid Tebboun taking place in March.

“The two presidents had a long, frank and friendly exchange on the state of bilateral relations and the tensions that have built up in recent months,” a joint statement read.