Algeria Summons French Ambassador Over Accusations Of Interference

French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune during the G7 Summit in Savelletri, near Bari, Italy, on June 14, 2024 (Algerian Presidency)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune during the G7 Summit in Savelletri, near Bari, Italy, on June 14, 2024 (Algerian Presidency)
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Algeria Summons French Ambassador Over Accusations Of Interference

French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune during the G7 Summit in Savelletri, near Bari, Italy, on June 14, 2024 (Algerian Presidency)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune during the G7 Summit in Savelletri, near Bari, Italy, on June 14, 2024 (Algerian Presidency)

Algeria's foreign ministry has summoned the French ambassador to reprimand him for what it said were efforts to destabilize the country, several Algerian media outlets reported on Sunday.

The ambassador, Stephane Romatet, was "informed of the firm disapproval of the highest Algerian authorities in the face of the numerous French provocations and hostile acts," the government-owned daily El Moudjahid reported.

According to Le Soir d'Algerie, the Algerian officials "made a point of clearly identifying the origin of these malicious acts, the French DGSE" intelligence service, AFP reported.

El Moudjahid said the French spy services were seeking to recruit "former terrorists" to "destabilize" the North African country.

Le Soir d'Algerie said French diplomats and agents had organized a series of meetings with people showing a "declared and permanent hostility towards Algerian institutions".

The heightened tensions between Algiers and Paris come while French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal has been in detention for nearly a month in Algeria, accused of "attacking territorial integrity".

According to Paris-based newspaper Le Monde, his November 16 arrest in Algiers could be due to his statements on a far-right French media outlet where he repeated Morocco's claims that its territory had been truncated in favor of Algeria under French colonial rule.

Algeria had already withdrawn its ambassador to France over the summer after the French government supported a Moroccan plan for the Western Sahara that allows the contested region some autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty.

Algeria has historically supported the region's Polisario separatist movement.



UK Police Arrest Two Men over Alleged Hezbollah Links

A protester holding a flag of Lebanon's Hezbollah during a demonstration in Istanbul, Tuesday, May 15, 2018. AP Photo/Emrah Gurel
A protester holding a flag of Lebanon's Hezbollah during a demonstration in Istanbul, Tuesday, May 15, 2018. AP Photo/Emrah Gurel
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UK Police Arrest Two Men over Alleged Hezbollah Links

A protester holding a flag of Lebanon's Hezbollah during a demonstration in Istanbul, Tuesday, May 15, 2018. AP Photo/Emrah Gurel
A protester holding a flag of Lebanon's Hezbollah during a demonstration in Istanbul, Tuesday, May 15, 2018. AP Photo/Emrah Gurel

British counter-terrorism police said on Thursday they had arrested two men accused of being linked to the banned group Hezbollah, saying their investigation involved alleged activity both overseas and in Britain.

Detectives from London's Counter Terrorism Command (CTC) arrested a 39-year-old man in north London on suspicion of being a member of a proscribed group, preparing acts of terrorism and being involved in funding for the purposed of terrorism, Reuters said.

A second man, 35, was arrested in west London on suspicion of being a member of a banned organization.

"Our investigation remains ongoing, but I hope that these arrests show we will take robust action against anyone here whom we suspect as being involved in terrorist activity regardless of whether their activity is focused here in the UK or elsewhere," said commander Dominic Murphy, head of the CTC.

Police said the investigation related to the Iran-backed Lebanese movement Hezbollah which Britain outlawed in 2019 when it classified it as a terrorist group. There was no immediate threat to the public, they said.

The two men were released on police bail until mid-July.