Algeria Acknowledges Paris Request for Departure of 12 Consular Agents
ALGIERS, April 16, 2025 – The Algerian Secretary of State to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, in charge of the National Community Abroad, Sofiane Chaib, stated on Wednesday that Algeria has “acknowledged” and “taken note” of Paris’s decision to recall the French ambassador to Algeria for consultations and to request the departure of 12 Algerian consular and diplomatic agents from French territory.
“Algeria acknowledges and takes note of the French decision,” Chaib said in a national radio interview. “We do not yet have all the specific details regarding the individuals affected by this new decision, which we regret.”
He emphasized that Algeria had “clearly indicated in its statement on April 14 that the decision to expel agents from the French Ministry of the Interior is justified by the unprecedented nature of the crisis and the tensions created by the French Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, surrounding the arrest of an Algerian consular agent in France.”
“At the same time, we reiterate the content of our last statement, in which we clearly indicated that we are prepared, as part of a firm response, to take further measures based on the principle of reciprocity.”
“The current crisis and tension are a direct result of this scheme and the theatricalization of an issue fabricated from scratch by a Minister of the Interior who revived a case dating back more than eight months related to an alleged abduction of this individual (Amir Boukhors, known as AmirDZ). This has unfortunately been used as a catalyst for a new maneuver to undermine bilateral relations and the positive trajectory desired by both Heads of State,” Chaib reminded listeners, referencing President Abdelmadjid Tebboune of Algeria and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.
