"The Algerian Government has taken note, with great astonishment, of the French President's remarks concerning Algeria, which dishonour, above all, the person who believed he had to make them in such a casual and frivolous manner. These remarks can only be condemned, rejected and condemned for what they are, a shameless and unacceptable interference in an internal Algerian affair," the same source said.
"What the French President unduly and falsely presents as a matter of freedom of expression is not one in the eyes of the law of a sovereign and independent State.
It essentially involves questioning the territorial integrity of the country, an offence punishable by Algerian law," the statement added.