Fresh tensions flared between France and Algeria on Monday as the French foreign minister said its former colony had asked 12 French officials to leave in 48 hours.

The announcement was linked to the arrest of three Algerian nationals in France, said Jean-Noel Barrot.

For decades, ties between France and Algeria have gone through diplomatic upheavals. Monday's announcement comes at a delicate time in relations and shows up difficulties in repairing ties.

"I am asking Algerian authorities to abandon these expulsion measures," Barrot said, adding: "If the decision to send back our officials is maintained, we will have no other choice but to respond immediately."

The 12 include some members of the French interior ministry, a diplomatic source told AFP.

Barrot had visited Algeria earlier this month on a fence-mending trip after months of tensions that had brought the two countries to the brink of a diplomatic breakdown.

After a meeting with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune during the visit, Barrot said that both countries wanted to "rebuild a partnership of equals."

On Friday, French prosecutors indicted three Algerians, including a consular official, on suspicion of involvement in the 2024 abduction of an opponent of the Algerian regime, Amir Boukhors, in a Paris suburb.

The men, who are also being prosecuted for "terrorist" conspiracy, were placed in pre-trial detention.

'Rotten arguments'

The indictment comes at a sensitive time between the two countries, with Algiers claiming the move was aimed at scuppering recent attempts to repair ties.

Boukhors, an influencer known by the nickname "Amir DZ", has more than a million followers on TikTok.

He has been in France since 2016 and was granted political asylum in 2023. He was abducted in April 2024 and released the following day, according to his lawyer.

Algiers is demanding the influencer's return to face trial, having issued nine international arrest warrants against him, accusing him of fraud and "terror" offences. France has refused to extradite him.

On Saturday, the Algerian foreign ministry denounced the "rotten arguments" of the French interior ministry and criticised an "unacceptable judicial conspiracy", referring to the arrest of its consular agent.

The 41-year-old influencer has been the target of two attacks, in 2022 and in 2024 on the day of his abduction in the southern suburbs of Paris, according to his lawyer Eric Plouvier.

The Algerian foreign ministry also warned that the incident would cause "great damage to Algerian-French relations."

Relations between Paris and Algiers came under strain last year, when France recognised Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara, where Algeria has long backed the pro-independence Polisario Front.

Relations soured further when Algeria arrested French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal on national security charges in November, after he told a French far-right media outlet that Morocco's territory was truncated in favour of Algeria during French colonial rule.

In March, an Algerian court sentenced him to five years in jail.

(AFP)

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