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Why are relations between Algeria and France so bad?

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Why are relations between Algeria and France so bad?

Relations between Algeria and its former coloniser, France, have rarely been straightforward.

After hitting a low point in July when France supported Algeria’s regional rival Morocco over its claim to the disputed territory of the Western Sahara, relations appeared to be recovering.

But then the April arrest in France of an Algerian consular official along with two other men for alleged involvement in the kidnapping near Paris of Algerian government critic Amir Boukhors has triggered a new wave of tensions.

So why are diplomats now being expelled, and what does this mean for relations between Algeria and its former coloniser?

Let’s break it down:

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Who is Amir Boukhors?

Boukhors, or Amir DZ,  is an Algerian online influencer and critic of Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune with more than 1 million subscribers on TikTok.

The French government gave Boukhors political asylum in 2023.

But as far as the Algerian government is concerned, he’s a fraudster and a “terrorist”, who they’ve been seeking to extradite from France since 2016.

Algeria has tried to extradite Boukhors nine times. All attempts have been declined by France.

Why would an Algerian consular official allegedly want to kidnap him?

Speaking to the newspaper Le Parisien in an interview published on April 9, Boukhors said that on returning to his home in Val-de-Marne near Paris during the evening of April 29, 2024, he was stopped by an unmarked car with flashing lights.

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Four men in civilian clothes handcuffed him and threw him into the vehicle.

“They first told me that an Algerian official wanted to talk to me, that that was why they were taking me. Then they told me the plan had changed and that I was going to Amsterdam,” Boukhors told the newspaper.

Boukhors said he was then forced to swallow sleeping pills and was held in a “container” for more than 27 hours before being released without explanation.

A subsequent investigation by France’s counterespionage agency uncovered information leading to the arrest on April 11 of three men with a fourth still reportedly at large.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has been a frequent target of Boukhors’s online criticism [AP Photo]

No information has been released about two of the men. However, the third was an Algerian consular employee, French officials said.

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Algeria issued a statement the following day strongly denying its official’s involvement and protesting the person’s arrest “in public … without notification through the diplomatic channels”.

The statement denounced what it charged was a “far-fetched argument” based “on the sole fact that the accused consular officer’s mobile phone was allegedly located around the home” of Boukhors.

All three suspects were later charged with “kidnapping or arbitrary detention … in connection with a terrorist undertaking”.

What was the diplomatic response?

On April 14, Algeria announced that 12 French consular officials had 48 hours to leave the country.

The statement, read on public television, confirmed the expulsions had been ordered in response to France’s arrest of the Algerian official.

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According to the statement, the arrest had been intended to “humiliate Algeria, with no consideration for the consular status of this agent, disregarding all diplomatic customs and practices”.

France responded in kind the following day, expelling 12 Algerian consular officials from its territory and recalling its ambassador from Algiers.

A statement from the office of French President Emmanuel Macron described the Algerian decision as “incomprehensible and unjustified” and said Algiers should “resume dialogue” and “take responsibility for the degradation in bilateral relations”.

Why have relations between France and Algeria historically been poor?

France colonised Algeria for 132 years, killing Algerian civilians and creating a class structure in which European settlers and their descendants were on top.

The French refused to leave Algeria, considering it an integral part of France. It was only after a war of independence that France finally left in 1962. Algeria is still referred to as the “country of a million martyrs” because of the number of people killed by France during the fight for independence.

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But the dispute has not ended there. The issue of the Western Sahara is also causing tension, not just between France and Algeria but also across North Africa.

Western Sahara – a disputed territory in northwestern Africa – is at the centre of the poor relations between Algeria and Morocco. Rabat claims the territory as its own and occupies the majority of it while Algeria supports the pro-independence Polisario Front and has taken in tens of thousands of Sahrawi refugees.

What has France’s position on the Western Sahara been?

France has largely backed Morocco – despite the United Nations not recognising Rabat’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara. And last year, Macron said France’s position was that it supported Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.

At the time, Algeria voiced its “deep disapproval” of France’s “unexpected, ill-timed and counterproductive” decision to endorse Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara and recalled its ambassador.

However, relations between the two were thought to be improving since then.

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Speaking in early April after a series of talks intended to restore relations after the rift, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said: “We are reactivating as of today all the mechanisms of cooperation in all sectors. We are going back to normal and to repeat the words of President Tebboune: ‘The curtain is lifted.’”

But the Boukhors case and the diplomatic expulsions that have followed it have made it clear that the curtain has fallen right back down.

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Iran closes Strait of Hormuz over ceasefire violations

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Iran closes Strait of Hormuz over ceasefire violations
Iran’s top joint military command, ​Khatam al-Anbiya Central ‌Headquarters, said on Saturday that the Strait ​of Hormuz would ​be closed to vessel ⁠traffic, citing ​alleged violations of a ​ceasefire agreement by the U.S. and Israel, Iran’s ​Mehr state ​news agency reported.
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Keir Starmer reportedly considering stepping down as PM and could announce timetable for departure

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Keir Starmer reportedly considering stepping down as PM and could announce timetable for departure

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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is reportedly considering stepping down and could announce a timetable for his departure as early as Monday, according to a report published Saturday.

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Britain’s Observer newspaper reported that Starmer was discussing his future with his wife at his Chequers country residence before making a final decision.

The outlet reported that senior Labour Party figures expect a statement addressing his future as early as next week.

A government source told Reuters that Starmer remains focused on governing and pointed to previous comments in which he vowed to remain in office.

AS EPSTEIN-LINKED APPOINTMENT SPARKS BACKLASH, UK PM STARMER FACES PARTY REVOLT AMID RESIGNATION CALLS

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer awaits Switzerland’s Federal President Guy Parmelin on the sidelines of the G7 summit, in Evian-les-Bains, France, Tuesday. (Isabel Infantes/Pool Reuters via AP)

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Fox News Digital has reached out to the prime minister’s office for comment.

Pressure on Starmer has been building for months amid growing dissatisfaction within his party and concerns over the government’s handling of the economy and cost-of-living issues.

The political threat to Starmer intensified Friday after rival Andy Burnham won a seat in Parliament, positioning him to mount a formal leadership challenge.

LABOUR MP PUTS CABINET ‘ON NOTICE,’ THREATENS TO TRIGGER LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE AGAINST STARMER BY MONDAY

Britain’s Labour party candidate Andy Burnham speaks to supporters after the Makerfield by-election in Ashton in Makerfield, England, Friday. (Jon Super/AP)

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Starmer congratulated Burnham following the victory, writing on X that voters, “chose Labour’s campaign of hope and optimism over division and hate.”

When asked about Burnham’s apparent ambitions to replace him, Starmer insisted he intends to remain in office.

“I’ve said repeatedly I’m not going to walk away from that,” Starmer said.

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Sir Keir Starmer is battling to save his position and refusing to stand aside despite dozens of Labout MP’s demanding he resigns. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)

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Starmer has led the Labour Party since 2020 and became prime minister in 2024.

Calls for his resignation intensified last month, with more than 100 Labour lawmakers publicly urging him to step aside or set out a timetable for his departure. Several parliamentary aides also resigned in protest.

The internal revolt followed a series of disappointing local election results for Labour, which lost hundreds of council seats across England, surrendered long-held ground in Wales and fell behind political rivals in Scotland.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks a news conference at Downing Street in London, March 5. (Tolga Akmen/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images, File)

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Starmer’s popularity has also declined amid a persistently high cost of living, sluggish economic growth and criticism over his acceptance of gifts from wealthy donors.

Fox News Digital’s James Cirrone and Emma Bussey, and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Trump vows Iran will not charge Strait of Hormuz tolls, but says US might

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Trump vows Iran will not charge Strait of Hormuz tolls, but says US might

United States President Donald Trump has pledged there will be no tolls for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, unless they are collected by his own country.

Trump’s statement, made in a Saturday afternoon post on Truth Social, is the latest sign that a recently signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) may be unravelling.

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“There will be NO TOLLS in the Hormuz Strait for 60 days during the Cease Fire Period, and there will be NO TOLLS after the 60 day period has expired,” Trump wrote, “unless they are imposed by and for the United States of America.”

Since the US and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28, Iran has successfully used the Strait of Hormuz as a pressure point, closing the strategic waterway to traffic.

But under the terms of Wednesday’s ceasefire memorandum, the strait is supposed to reopen for an interim period of 60 days. During that time, Iran is barred from charging vessels for passage.

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On Saturday, however, Iran’s joint military command said it had closed the Strait of Hormuz, citing a “clear breach” of the memorandum’s commitments.

US Central Command (CENTCOM), the agency that oversees military operations in the region, denied that report and maintained that the traffic continues to flow through the waterway.

The Strait of Hormuz has long been a flashpoint in the conflict between the US and Iran. Nearly 20 percent of the world’s oil and natural gas is transported through the strait, as well as about 30 percent of the global fertiliser trade.

Closure of the strait has caused global fuel costs to soar and has tested agricultural sectors across the world.

Trump had responded to Iran’s chokehold over the strait by imposing a US naval blockade on Iran’s ports in the region.

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But that naval blockade was lifted under the terms of Wednesday’s memorandum. The deal also paused fighting on all fronts in the regional conflict, including in Lebanon.

The memorandum, though, was not intended as a long-term deal. It serves as a launching point for negotiations on key issues, including the future of Iran’s nuclear programme.

Several points of divergence also went unaddressed in the memorandum. Nowhere does the memo say that future tolls cannot be collected from the strait after the 60-day period expires.

Before the war, there was no charge for passage through the strait. Trump himself said in an interview with The New York Times that the waterway should remain “permanently toll-free”.

But he appeared to reverse course in Saturday’s post, once again floating the possibility that the US could extract tolls in the strait, while barring Iran from doing so.

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No fees should be levied, Trump wrote, “unless they are imposed by and for the United States of America, should the deal not be completed”.

He explained that such a charge would compensate the US “for services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East for purposes of both past, present, and future reimbursement of costs”.

Trump used similar language in his New York Times interview earlier this week, floating the US becoming “the guardian of the Middle East” in exchange for 20 percent of its revenue.

Saturday’s post is not the first time Trump has mused about the US imposing tolls in the strait, either.

In April, for instance, he discussed the idea with reporters, saying, “What about us charging tolls? I’d rather do that than let them have them. Why shouldn’t we? We’re the winner. We won.”

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There has been no indication that Trump’s plans have been officially presented to countries in the region, many of whom have struck a careful balance in their dealings with both the US and Iran during the war.

Iranian officials, meanwhile, have repeatedly said they will not rule out imposing tolls in the strait, framing the issue as a matter of sovereignty and regional negotiation. The strait sits between Iran and Oman.

Further discussions are expected on the matter in the coming weeks.

But such negotiations have been thrown into jeopardy amid ongoing Israeli military operations in Lebanon, which threaten to violate Wednesday’s ceasefire memorandum.

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Iran claimed that Saturday’s closure of the strait was a result of new Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon, which killed dozens of people after the ceasefire was announced.

Iranian officials have also said that any upcoming talks should focus on proper implementation of the initial memorandum, and that the 60-day negotiating period stipulated in Wednesday’s deal would begin after that was settled.

Pakistan, a top mediator between the US and Iran, has said that follow-up talks are set to begin in Switzerland on Sunday.

Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that an Iranian delegation, led by parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, has already arrived for the negotiations.

On the US side, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Vice President JD Vance are expected to attend.

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Vance departed for Switzerland late Saturday.

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