Algeria expels 12 French consular representatives
Algeria has ordered 12 employees to leave the French Embassy and has expelled the French consular representatives in Algeria.
According to AL24 on April 15th, the French officials were given 48 hours to leave the country in a statement released by the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Algerian Foreign Ministry is acting in response to the indictment of one of their consular officials by French authorities.
In a statement, they said that their decision to expel the French officials “comes in response to the public, theatrical and defamatory arrest carried out on April 8, 2025 by agencies under the French Ministry of the Interior, targeting a consular employee of a sovereign state accredited to France.”
France arrested the Algerian consular official along with two other men on suspicion of kidnapping the 41 year old social media influencer Amir Boukhors, known as “Amir DZ”, in a Parisian suburb.
According to France’s National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office, the three men involved in the abduction were indicted by on the charges of abduction, arbitrary detention and illegal confinement.
Algeria has claimed that the arrest of the diplomat is a “far-fetched argument” that is based “on the sole fact that the accused consular officers mobile phone was allegedly located around the home (of Boukhors).”
The Algerian Foreign Ministry went on to further claim that “this disgraceful act—intended by the French Minister of the Interior as an affront to Algeria—was executed in blatant disregard for the consular status of the employee, with no respect for diplomatic norms and conventions, and in clear violation of the relevant agreements and treaties.”
French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune had agreed to normalise ties in a phone call on March 31st, vowing to reestablish political dialogue and relaunch cooperation on security and migration.
However, tensions have flared up once again and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has vowed to respond to the expulsions.
AL24, Maghrebi
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