Algeria’s Ambassador To Paris Resumes His Functions

Diplomatic sources confirmed the return of the Algerian ambassador to France, Salah Labdioui, to his work in Paris more than two weeks after his departure from France, at the invitation of the Algerian Foreign Ministry, in protest against French abuses of Algeria.

A statement issued by the Algerian Foreign Ministry, on the seventeenth of this month, announced that Ambassador Salah Labdioui was summoned indefinitely for consultations due to a series of abuses that were carried out by French public media against Algeria and some of its institutions.

The same source told Echorouk that the Algerian ambassador returned at the beginning of this week, which was only a matter of time, after the call that brought together President Abdelmadjid Tabboune with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on the second of this month, in which the French President expressed goodwill to preserve good relationships.

Algerian ambassador’s return to Paris means that the fog that has clouded bilateral relationships more than a year ago is cleared, due to the suspicion that the French authorities were involved in confusing the political situation, by trying to influence the home front and direct events, at a time when the country was living a special circumstance following the outbreak of the popular movement.

Previously, and before summoning the Algerian ambassador to Paris, the Foreign Ministry summoned of the French ambassador, Xavier Driencourt, and informed him of the Algerian authorities’ annoyance over France 24 Channel, which belongs to the French Foreign Ministry, hosting, Francis Ghillès, one of the French extremists, a Jew of Algerian origin, whose words were considered a forgery of some facts.

The incident of summoning the Algerian Ambassador to Paris is the first of its kind in more than two decades, but the question that must be asked here is, can the French President, Emmanuel Macron, ensure the embodiment of the promises that he made to President Tabboune in the phone call, in a country that has often invoked the freedom of opinion that prevents from monitoring what is coming from the media, which used to abuse Algeria, its symbols and history?

The return of the Algerian ambassador to Paris to resume his work was expected due to the intertwined relations and French-Algerian interests because there are millions of Algerians residing on French soil, and France has countless privileges in Algeria, on top of which are the economic and cultural interests, which France is betting on preserving, for fear of losing its vital influence in its former colony.

In a related context, diplomatic sources indicate that the French ambassador to Algeria, Xavier Driencourt, is preparing to return to his country before the coming August, after more than a year spent in unusual circumstances, due to the pressure that was placed on him by the Algerian authorities, since rumours leaked of a possible role for Paris in destabilizing Algeria.

During that period, information was leaked about the request of the French ambassador, who spent two terms in Algeria, from the president of his country to be relieved of his position, due to his inability to perform his duties properly because of the interruption of the rope of trust between him and the Algerian Foreign Ministry, but the Elysee Palace decided to keep him until next August, which coincides with his retirement date.