Algeria protests France’s detention of Algerian consular agent

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TUNIS (Reuters) – Algeria protested on Saturday against France’s detention of an Algerian consular agent over an alleged kidnapping of an Algerian citizen in France, the latest tension between the two countries.

The Algerian Foreign Ministry said that this unprecedented judicial turn, in the history of two countries’ relations, was aimed at disrupting the process of reviving bilateral relations.

French media reported that three people, including an Algerian consular official, were placed under investigation on Friday on suspicion of kidnapping Amir Boukhors, an opponent of the Algerian regime.

Algeria said that “the new, unacceptable, and unjustified development will severely damage Algerian-French relations and affirms its determination not to leave this case without consequences”.

The North Africa country described Boukhors as “a saboteur linked to terrorist groups”.

Ties between Paris and Algiers have been complicated for decades, but took a turn for the worse last July when French President Emmanuel Macron angered Algeria by recognising a plan for the autonomy of the Western Sahara region under Moroccan sovereignty.

Last month, an Algerian court sentenced French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal to five years in jail for undermining national unity, prompting a call for his freedom from Macron.

But French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said last week that ties with Algeria were back to normal after he held talks with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune following months of bickering that have hurt Paris’ economic and security interests in its former colony.

(Reporting by Hatem Maher, Ahmed Tolba and Tarek Amara, writing by Tarek Amara, editing by Sandra Maler)