After Algeria expelled a French diplomat, a move came after the French arrest of an Algerian consul official in connection with the alleged lure.
France has expelled 12 Algerian diplomatic and consulate staff, recalling the ambassador from Algiers and says it is deepening a crisis that could unravel a months-long settlement between the two countries.
The announcement on Tuesday comes a day after Algeria ordered 12 French diplomats to leave within 48 hours.
Algiers announced his expulsion after French prosecutors indicted three Algerian nationals, including the consulate, last year on suspicion of luring out prominent Parisian government critics.
Activist Amir Boukol, well known by his over 1 million Tiktok followers as “Amir DZ,” was granted exile in France in 2023. He was accused of the Paris suburbs last April and released the following day. French authorities said the three suspects were also facing charges of “terrorist” conspiracy.
Tension relationship
It was the first time France had detained an employee of the Algerian Consulate, marking a sharp escalation of tensions between Paris and the former French colonies.
French Foreign Minister Jean Noel Barott said Monday that the expulsion had a direct connection to the arrest.
France’s Europe and the Foreign Ministry said that if the Algerian move was implemented, it would mark the first expulsion of French diplomats from the country since independence in 1962.
Algeria has issued nine international arrest warrants for Booker on charges that include fraud and “terrorism,” but is demanding that he be handed over.
Escalation occurs despite recent overtures between the two countries. Just a week ago, Barot met with Algerian President Abdelmazid Tebborn and declared that bilateral relations had returned to normal after a period of tension simmering.
Last year, support from French President Emmanuel Macron of Moroccan Autonomy Plan for conflict zones in Western Sahara caused outrage in Algiers. Last month, the imprisonment of French Algerian writer Boualem Sansal by an Algerian court only added to the tensions as Macron seeks his release.
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