France announces it will expel Algerian diplomats in response to a similar move.

 

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Wednesday that France summoned the Algerian chargé d'affaires in Paris to denounce Algeria's "unjustified and incomprehensible" decision to expel French diplomats and to inform him that Paris would respond with similar action.

Relations between Algeria and France, the former colonial power in Africa's largest country by area, have been increasingly tense in recent months.

"Our response is immediate, firm, and proportionate at this stage," the minister told BFM TV. "Holders of diplomatic passports who currently do not have a visa will be deported to Algeria."

A French diplomatic source reported that the individuals concerned are employees on temporary support missions, without specifying their number or when the expulsion would be implemented.

In mid-April, Algerian authorities declared twelve French employees of the Ministry of the Interior persona non grata, and they were forced to leave Algeria within 48 hours. Algeria justified its decision at the time as a response to France's arrest and subsequent imprisonment of an Algerian consular employee.

France then responded by expelling 12 Algerian consular employees and recalling the French ambassador to Algeria, Stéphane Romatet, for consultations.

Relations between the two countries became strained last year when France recognized Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara, where Algeria supports the pro-independence Polisario Front.

These tensions escalated after Algeria arrested French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal last November on national security charges.