This is a new jolt in the history of relations between Paris and Algiers.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune decided on Wednesday (February 8th) to recall his ambassador to France "for consultations" following the "exfiltration" of activist and journalist Amira Bouraoui via Tunisia on Monday evening, the presidency announced. in a press release.
Emphasizing that Algeria has, via an official note, "firmly protested against the clandestine and illegal exfiltration of an Algerian national" to France, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune ordered the recall of the Algerian ambassador to France, Saïd Moussi, with immediate effect", specified the presidency.
Arrested Friday in Tunisia, from where she risked being deported to Algeria, political opponent Amira Bouraoui was finally able to board a flight to France on Monday evening.
This Franco-Algerian was subject to a ban on leaving the territory in Algeria.
She had been arrested by the Tunisian police when she was trying to board a plane for France.
A judge released her on Monday but she was then taken away by Tunisian police before obtaining protection from the French consulate in Tunis.
Warming up between Paris and Algiers
Shortly before the recall of the Algerian ambassador to Paris, the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that it had expressed on Wednesday, in an official note to the French Embassy, "the firm condemnation by Algeria of the violation of national sovereignty by diplomatic, consular and security personnel under the responsibility of the French State".
These personnel "took part in a clandestine and illegal operation of exfiltration of an Algerian national whose physical presence on the national territory is prescribed by the Algerian justice", specified the ministry in a press release.
In this official note, Algeria rejected this "inadmissible and unqualifiable" development which causes "great damage" to Algerian-French relations.
After a cold snap since the fall of 2021, Paris and Algiers had sealed a clear warming in their relations during a trip by French President Emmanuel Macron last August.
The two Heads of State then signed with great fanfare a joint declaration to relaunch bilateral cooperation.
In October, it was the French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, accompanied by around fifteen ministers, who went to Algiers to concretize the reconciliation between the two countries through agreements in industry, the creation of start-ups , tourism and culture.
With AFP
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