Algeria recalls its ambassador to France “for consultations”

Published on : 02/10/2021 – 18:32

Towards a diplomatic crisis between Paris and Algiers? Algeria decided, Saturday, October 2, to recall “for consultations” its ambassador to France, announced on public television, citing an official statement from the Algerian presidency.

“Algeria recalls its ambassador (Mohamed Antar-Daoud, editor’s note) to Paris for consultations and a press release will be broadcast on the subject,” said television, showing on the screen a short text in Arabic from the Algerian presidency.

The local media largely took up on Saturday an article in the French newspaper Le Monde where French President Emmanuel Macron, receiving descendants of protagonists of the Algerian war, believes that after its independence in 1962, Algeria was built on ” a memorial rent “, maintained by” the politico-military system “.

He also evokes “an official history”, according to him, “completely rewritten” which “is not based on truths” but on “a speech which is based on a hatred of France”.

This is the second time that Algiers has summoned its ambassador to Paris since May 2020 when the then ambassador, Salah Lebdioui, was the subject of an “immediate” recall after the broadcast of a documentary on the Hirak pro-democracy protest movement, broadcast on France 5 and the parliamentary channel.

Relations between Paris and Algiers were already strained. On Wednesday, the French Ambassador to Algiers François Gouyette was summoned to the Algerian Foreign Ministry to be notified of “a formal government protest” after Paris’ decision to halve the visas granted to Algerians wishing to travel to France .

With AFP