The Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Stéphane Romatet, the French ambassador to Algiers, last week to send “a severe warning” to Paris. France is accused of having carried out “aggressive operations and maneuvers” to “destabilize” the country, several newspapers reported on Sunday.
Stéphane Romatet was “signified the firm disapproval of the highest Algerian authorities in the face of the numerous French provocations and hostile acts towards Algeria”, writes the government daily El Moudjahid.
According to Algerian Eveningthe Algerian side “kept verbally clearly indicating the origin of these malicious acts, the French DGSE (General Directorate of External Security)”.
“Severe warning”
The summons of Stéphane Romatet “sounds like a severe warning, which comes the day after serious revelations on the involvement [de la] DGSE, in a campaign to recruit former terrorists in Algeria for the purposes of destabilizing the country, according to El Moudjahid.
National television and the public continuous news channel AL24 News recently broadcast a documentary which claimed that a “Machiavellian plan” had been “brilliantly foiled by the Algerian security services”, recalls the newspaper.
The French ambassador was also accused of “equally serious facts, slippages which are no longer just an unfriendly act, but a notorious desire to greatly harm Algeria”, assures Algerian Evening.
A new episode of tensions
These are “meetings organized within the walls of several representations flying the French flag in Algeria and recognized as such, bringing together, around French diplomats of various ranks, mainly consular agents reporting to the DGSE, people known for their declared hostility and permanent towards Algerian institutions”, according to this newspaper.
This new episode of tensions between Algiers and Paris occurs while the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal has been in detention for almost a month in Algeria, notably for “undermining territorial integrity”.
