ALGIERS: Algeria decided Saturday to recall its ambassador to France for consultations, as diplomatic tensions mount with Paris.
The move comes after France's President Emmanuel Macron made critical remarks about Algeria published in French daily Le Monde in which he said the former French colony was ruled by a "political-military system".
"Algeria recalls its ambassador (Mohamed Antar-Daoud) from Paris for consultations," state television said, quoting a statement from the presidency.
It said a longer statement would follow to explain the move.
Le Monde on Saturday quoted Macron as saying Algeria has an "official history" which has been "totally re-written".
He said this history was "not based on truths" but "on a discourse of hatred towards France", according to Le Monde.
The remarks, widely picked up by Algerian media, came in a meeting earlier this week between Macron and relatives of figures from Algeria's war of independence.
It is the second time that Algeria recalls an ambassador from France.
Algiers also recalled its ambassador in May 2020 after French media broadcast a documentary about Algeria's pro-democracy Hirak protest movement.
Saturday's move comes amid tense ties following a decision by Paris to reduce the number of visas granted to citizens from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.
The Algerian foreign ministry summoned the French ambassador on Wednesday to protest the visa ruling.
France on Tuesday said it would sharply reduce the number of visas granted to people from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, accusing the former French colonies of not doing enough to allow illegal immigrants to return.
Algeria's foreign ministry handed "a formal protest" to French ambassador Francois Gouyette.
It called the visa reduction an "unfortunate act" that caused "confusion and ambiguity as to its motivation and its scope".
Morocco's Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita has described the French move as "unjustified".
There has not been yet an official reaction from Tunisia.
French government spokesman Gabriel Attal told Europe 1 radio on Tuesday that the visa reduction decision was "unprecedented".
Paris made that choice, he said, because Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia "are refusing to take back nationals who we do not want or cannot keep in France".
The radio said Macron took the decision a month ago after failed diplomatic efforts with the three North African countries.
Algeria recalls ambassador to France as tensions rise
https://arab.news/c8ypj
Algeria recalls ambassador to France as tensions rise
- The move comes after France's President Emmanuel Macron made critical remarks about Algeria published in French daily Le Monde
- It is the second time that Algeria recalls an ambassador from France.
5 bodies of migrants washed ashore in east of Libya’s capital Tripoli, police officer says
TRIPOLI: At least five bodies of migrants including two women have been washed ashore in َQasr Al-Akhyar, a coastal town in the east of Libya’s capital Tripoli, a police officer told Reuters on Saturday.
Hassan Al-Ghawil, head of investigations at the Qasr Al-Akhyar police station, said that according to people in the area, a child’s body washed ashore and because of the waves’ height the body returned to the sea, and the coast guard was asked to search for it.
Ghawil said the bodies are all dark-skinned people. The bodies were found on Emhamid Al-Sharif shore in the western part of the town by people who reported to the police station.
Libya has become a transit route for migrants fleeing conflict and poverty to Europe across the Mediterranean since the fall in 2011 of dictator Muammar Qaddafi to a NATO-backed uprising. Factional conflict has split the country into western and eastern factions since 2014.
Qasr Al-Akhyar is a coastal town some 73 kilometers (45 miles) east of Tripoli.
Pictures were posted on the Internet, and also seen by Reuters, showing the bodies of the migrants lying on the shore, where some were still within black inflatable lifebuoys.
“We reported to the Red Crescent to recover the bodies,” said Ghawil. “The bodies we found are still intact and we think there are more bodies to wash ashore.”
Earlier this month, fifty-three migrants, including two babies, were dead or missing after a rubber boat carrying 55 people capsized off the coast of Zuwara town in western Tripoli, the International Organization for Migration said.
Last week, a UN report said migrants in Libya, including young girls, are at risk of being killed, tortured, raped or put into domestic slavery, calling for a moratorium on the return of migrant boats to the country until human rights are ensured.
