PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that Algeria was “dishonoring itself” by holding French-Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal, who was arrested in Algiers in November.
Sansal, a major figure in modern francophone literature, was arrested at the Algiers airport at a time of growing tensions between France and its former colony.
“Algeria, which we love so much and with which we share so many children and so many stories, is dishonoring itself by preventing a seriously ill man from receiving treatment,” Macron said in a speech to French ambassadors gathered at the Elysee Palace.
“And we who love the people of Algeria and its history urge its government to release Boualem Sansal,” he added.
He described Sansal as a “freedom fighter,” saying he was being held “in a totally arbitrary manner” by the Algerian authorities.
A critic of the Algerian authorities, Sansal, 75, has been imprisoned in Algeria on national security charges.
In mid-December, the Gallimard editing house said Sansal had been hospitalized, raising fears about the writer’s health in detention.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune first mentioned his arrest in late December, describing him as an “imposter” sent by France.
Sansal is known for his strong stances against both authoritarianism and Islamism, as well as being a forthright campaigner on freedom of expression issues.
In 2015, he won the Grand Prix du Roman of the French Academy, the guardians of the French language, for his book “2084: The End of the World,” a dystopian novel set in an Islamist totalitarian world in the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust.
The controversy is taking place in a tense diplomatic context between France and Algeria, after Macron renewed French support for Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara during a landmark visit to the kingdom in 2024.
Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, is de facto controlled for the most part by Morocco.
But it is claimed by the Sahrawi separatists of the Polisario Front, who are demanding a self-determination referendum and are supported by Algiers.
French President says Algeria ‘dishonors itself’ by holding novelist Boualem Sansal
https://arab.news/j9ms5
French President says Algeria ‘dishonors itself’ by holding novelist Boualem Sansal
- Boualem Sansal has been imprisoned in Algeria on national security charges since November
- Emmanuel Macron said Sansal was being held 'in a totally arbitrary manner' by the Algerian authorities
Syrian security forces dismantle Daesh terror cell near Damascus
- Authorities, in coordination with the General Intelligence Directorate, struck a terrorist hideout and arrested several militants
- Syria and the US accuse the group of carrying out a deadly ambush against its personnel in Palmyra
LONDON: Syrian internal security units dismantled a cell of the Daesh terror group in the Daraya area southwest of Damascus on Sunday.
Authorities, in coordination with the General Intelligence Directorate, raided a Daesh hideout and arrested several militants.
Syria and the United States have accused the terror group of carrying out a deadly ambush earlier this month that resulted in the deaths of three Americans and injuries to two Syrian service personnel in Palmyra, in central Syria.
Brig. Gen. Ahmad al-Dalati, head of internal security in the Damascus countryside, announced that the operation resulted in the dismantling of the cell and the arrest of a Daesh leader, along with six other members. Several weapons and ammunition were also seized, he added.
He said the operation is part of the interior ministry’s broader strategy to eliminate terrorist sources, avert threats to community security, and maintain peace and stability in the country, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported.
On Friday, the US military launched large-scale retaliatory strikes and group operations against Daesh targets and operatives in Syria.
