"We called for the immediate release of this consular officer arrested on the public highway. In the absence of a response, we decided to expel 12 officers working at the French embassy and consulates in Algeria," he told national television.
The Secretary of State stressed, in this regard, that this "sovereign and proportionate measure" "targeted only the agents who are under the supervision of the French Ministry of the Interior, insofar as this new affair is the result of actions and maneuvers, by successive touches", aimed at hindering the dynamic of relaunching bilateral relations.
French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau "assumes full responsibility for this new situation, which has arisen in a particular context," Mr. Chaib said.
For the Secretary of State, this new "fabricated" affair aims to undermine "bilateral relations which were in a phase of warming up", recalling that the telephone conversation on March 31 between the two heads of state "enabled the recognition of this desire to renew dialogue between the two countries and to give the bilateral relationship a completely new ambition which encompasses all issues of cooperation and common interest".
Describing as "grotesque" the argument used to justify the arrest of the Algerian consular agent, Mr. Chaib noted that all the measures taken and leading to the arrest of the Algerian consular agent "were decided at the instigation of the services under the supervision of the French Minister of the Interior."
The Algerian consular officer "was arrested in completely unprecedented circumstances. He was arrested on April 8 in public, in full view of everyone, and without the competent French authorities having taken the trouble to officially notify him of this arrest through diplomatic channels," he lamented.
An arrest, he continued, "in violation of the immunities and privileges provided for by all the international texts and conventions enjoyed by the consular agent concerned, but also in disregard of the customs and practices which should prevail between States in this matter."
Reiterating Algeria's "firm commitment" to defending this consular officer, the Secretary of State assured that the Algerian authorities had called upon "the legal advisors who are at the embassy and consulate level in the Paris region."
He took the opportunity to reassure Algerians in France, emphasizing the full attention that the President of the Republic, Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, pays to the national community abroad.