Diplomacy: New expulsions of French officials from Algerian territory

Algeria summoned the chargé d'affaires of the French embassy in Algiers on Sunday to notify him of further expulsions of French officials from Algerian territory, French diplomatic sources announced on Monday.

The officials concerned were people who were on a temporary reinforcement mission, without further details. Twelve French agents had already been expelled a month ago by Algiers .

At this stage, the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not issued a statement formalizing this request, which was announced in a dispatch from the Algerian Press Agency (APS).

According to the agency, Algeria demands "the immediate repatriation" of all French employees appointed under "irregular conditions."

"This summons of the French diplomat came after the observation of flagrant and repeated failures by the French side to respect established procedures regarding the assignment of agents to French diplomatic and consular representations in Algeria," APS reports.

"Indeed, over the recent period, the competent Algerian services have reportedly noted the assignment of no fewer than fifteen French agents to perform diplomatic or consular duties without these assignments having been the subject of prior official notifications or appropriate accreditation requests as required by the procedures in force."

The Algerian authorities also reportedly reported the blocking of the approval process for two Algerian consuls general appointed to Paris and Marseille, as well as seven other consuls, who have been waiting for the approval procedures to be finalized for more than five months.