Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Friday talked to his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on phone and said that the country’s ambassador to Paris will soon rejoin his post, reported The National News. The move is expected to pave the way for warming up the bilateral ties between the two countries after a diplomatic row.
In a statement, the Algerian Presidency said that Ambassador Said Moussi was recalled last month after a Franco-Algerian activist had fled Algeria to France via Tunisia.
The Algerian government accused Paris of arranging an illegal escape of Amira Bouraoui who was detained during mass protests in Algeria in 2019 and freed from prison in 2020. She was not supposed to leave Algeria and authorities in Algiers said her flight to France amounted to an illegal exfiltration.
As per the Presidency statement, Tebboune and Macron discussed the activist during the talks on Friday. It said that the two presidents agreed to boost communication between the governments of the two countries to avoid the recurrence of any such incident.
The statement said that Tebboune and Macron agreed to boost the bilateral partnership as mentioned in the Algiers Declaration which was signed during Macron’s visit to the North African country last August. It added that the two also discussed Tebboune’s forthcoming visit to France and reviewed several international and regional issues of common interest.
On Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune had told Macron during a telephone conversation that the ambassador would return.
“The two heads of state have discussed the conditions of the departure from Tunisia and arrival in France… of a Franco-Algerian national … this discussion has cleared up misunderstandings,” the Elysee statement said.
It added that after Macron’s visit to Algeria in August last year, the two leaders agreed on the need to enhance cooperation between the countries in every area.
