In an unprecedented diplomatic move, Algeria has asked 12 French embassy staff to leave the country within 48 hours, according to reports from French media on Monday.
The decision, reported by Le Figaro citing French officials, marks the first mass expulsion of French diplomats since Algeria’s independence in 1962.
The 12 employees are linked to France’s Interior Ministry, indicating the move specifically targets Interior Minister Bruno Le Maire’s jurisdiction. It is also a response to the arrest and temporary detention of an Algerian consular employee in France, according to the report.
On Sunday, Algeria’s foreign ministry said it had summoned French Ambassador Stephane Romatet to “express its strong protest”.
It said the indicted consular officer “was arrested in public and then taken into custody without notification through the diplomatic channels”.
It denounced a “far-fetched argument” based “on the sole fact that the accused consular officer’s mobile phone was allegedly located around the home” of Boukhors.
The expulsion order came just two days after French authorities detained an Algerian consular official suspected of involvement in the April 2024 abduction of Amir Boukhors, an Algerian dissident and online influencer, on French soil.
