France threatens ‘firm response’ as Algeria expels diplomats

France said it will take a “firm” and “proportionate” response,after Algeria asked more French diplomats to leave the country.

Algeria has declared 15 French diplomats persona non grata and asked them to immediately leave the country,in a new episode of an escalating tension between the two countries.

The Algerian decision is part of a series of escalatory moves in retaliation for France’s sovereign decision to back Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara territory.

Relations deteriorated sharply after France arrested an Algerian employee involved in the kidnapping of political opponent Amine Boukhris,known as Amir DZ.

Amir DZ,who has a large audience on social media,together with other journalists and politicians in French exile such as Abdou Semmar and Hichem Abboud,have all been targets of physical attacks and intimidation by the Algerian regime.

French weekly,JDD,reported on May 12 that the French judiciary was investigating the attacks on Algerian opposition figures.

It pointed to the involvement of the Algerian authorities in the attacks on Amir Dz,Hichem Abboud,and Abdou Semmar.

The weekly also reported that the French President was looking into a response to the interference of the Algerian regime in France’s domestic affairs.

It said the attacks were ordered by Tebboune himself and involved Algeria’s secret service agents.

Meanwhile,Algeria maintains ageing and ailing writer Boualem Sansal in jail for saying historical truths on the colonial origins of Algeria’s current borders.

Intent on cracking down on free speech at home and abroad,Algeria issues an arrest warrant against novelist and Goncourt winner Kamal Daoud,after his novel Houris on the civil war,a taboo issue in Algeria.