![\"Barrot\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/AFP__20241202__36P33BM__v3__HighRes__EgyptPalestinianIsraelConflictUnAid-1733998261.jpg\")
French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot, who has been working to cool diplomatic tension, called for Algeria to withdraw its order [File: Khaled Desouki\/AFP]<\/p>\nLatest salvo in diplomatic spat comes after France arrested three Algerians over kidnapping of social media influencer.<\/p>\n
Algeria has ordered a dozen French officials to leave the country within 48 hours, increasing diplomatic tension between the two countries.<\/p>\n
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot asserted on Monday that the order is linked to the recent arrest of three Algerian nationals suspected of kidnapping a high-profile critic of the Algerian government in Paris last year.<\/p>\n
Barrot asked the Algerian authorities to \u201cabandon these expulsion measures\u201d, saying if they persisted with their decision, France would have no choice but to \u201crespond immediately\u201d.<\/p>\n
A diplomatic source told the AFP news agency that the 12 included some members of the French Ministry of the Interior.<\/p>\n
French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot, who has been working to cool diplomatic tension, called for Algeria to withdraw its order [File: Khaled Desouki\/AFP]<\/p>\n
Last week, French prosecutors indicted three Algerians, including a consular official, on suspicion of involvement in the kidnapping of Amir Boukhors.<\/p>\n
The men, who were placed in pre-trial detention, are also being prosecuted for \u201cterrorist\u201d conspiracy.<\/p>\n
An opponent of the Algerian government, the social media influencer has more than one million followers on TikTok under the name of \u201cAmir DZ\u201d.<\/p>\n
Boukhors, who was granted asylum by France in 2023, was taken in a Paris suburb in April last year and released the following day, according to his lawyer.<\/p>\n
Algiers is demanding he return to face trial, having issued nine international arrest warrants against him on accusations of fraud and terror offences.<\/p>\n
Strained relations<\/p>\n
The diplomatic spat threatens to upend\u00a0recent efforts to\u00a0normalise strained relations between France and its former North African colony, including a visit to Algeria by\u00a0Barrot a week ago.<\/p>\n
Last July, French President Emmanuel Macron angered Algeria by recognising a plan for the autonomy of the Western Sahara<\/a> region under Moroccan sovereignty.<\/p>\n