Driencourt: “Visa isn’t a right… We didn’t receive formal request to hand over skulls”

French Ambassador to Algeria, His Excellency, Mr. Xavier Driencourt said on Monday that the official French authorities had not yet received a formal request from Algeria regarding the skulls of the Algerian Martyrs, now being held at the museum of man in Paris, on the sidelines of a working visit to Annaba province (far eastern Algeria).

The Ambassador confirmed that the French  side is ready to  launch the preparations for the delivery of skulls in the case of receiving a formal request from Algeria as the embodiment of this endeavor to be conducted in stages ends with a law that recognizes the skulls of Algerian resistance leaders, through the drafting of a law presented to the French Assembly and the Senate.

French President Emmanuel Macron revealed during his visit to Algeria last December that the file of the skulls of the Algerian Martyrs  now displayed at the “Musée de l’Homme” in Paris, was the focus of discussions between the two country’s officials, stressing that the agreement they reached was to ensure the return of these skulls to Algeria.

During his working visit to Annaba, the French Ambassador also met with the workers of the T-SL Contact Center and held a closed-door meeting with them.

In this context, the French Ambassador said at a press conference held at the “Cital” plant for the production of trams, that the visa is not  a right as much as it is a matter of the sovereignty of the country granting the visa, adding that the work of consulates in this area is  in keeping with the directives of the President of the French Republic, linked to the laws and regulations specified in the Schengen space.