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Algeria denied passage through its airspace to French military aircraft, as reported by the French Army this Sunday, October 3. The decision of the Executive of the North African country comes a day after it called its ambassador in France for consultations, thus intensifying the largest dispute between the two countries in years.
Algeria this Sunday prohibited the passage of two French military planes through its airspace, accused France of “genocide” due to its colonial past and withdrew its ambassador from Paris, in protest at what it considers “inadmissible” comments attributed to the French president. Emmanuel Macron.
French military planes regularly fly over Algerian territory to reach the Sahel region, in West Africa, where French troops provide support in the fight against jihadists and armed groups mainly in Mali and Niger.
“This morning, when we presented the flight plans for two aircraft, we learned that Algeria had suspended the flights of French military aircraft over its territory,” a French Army spokesman, Colonel Pascal Ianni, told the AFP news agency. . The military specified that one of the planes had to leave from France and the other from Chad.
Ianni added that it is unclear if Algeria is completely closing its airspace to the French military or if Sunday’s flights will be the only ones affected.
“We have not received an official notification, so we’ll see,” he declared, adding that, however, the Algerian Executive’s decision will not affect the intelligence operations or missions carried out by France in the Sahel.
Several days of tensions between Algeria and France
This ban comes after the withdrawal on Saturday of the Algerian ambassador to France.
A statement from the Presidency stipulated that the diplomat’s call for consultations was motivated by recent comments about the North African country attributed to Macron.
The French newspaper ‘Le Monde’ reported critical statements made by the French president about the Algerian political system, during a meeting on Thursday with French descendants of the so-called ‘Harkis’, mercenaries recruited between 1957 and 1962 to fight alongside France during the Algerian war of independence.
According to ‘Le Monde’, Macron said that Algeria is governed by a “political-military system” and described the “official history” of the country as something “totally rewritten” that “is not based on truths” but “on hate speech. towards France “.
The newspaper added that the French president clarified that he was not referring to the whole of Algerian society, but to the ruling elite.
On s’achemine you will see a nouvelle crise Franco-Algerienne avec toujours les mêmes ingrédients, histoire, visas, mémoire, sur fond de turbulences politiques et crise migratoire. https://t.co/OnHrhFgW3q
– Xavier Driencourt (@XMDriencourt) October 3, 2021
He also quoted Macron questioning whether an Algerian nation had existed prior to French colonization.
According to Algiers, the French president’s comments amount to “unacceptable interference” in Algerian affairs and are “an intolerable affront” to the Algerians who died fighting French colonialism.
“The crimes of colonial France in Algeria are innumerable and conform to the strictest definitions of genocide,” declared the statement from the Algerian Presidency.
The message did not specify which comments by Macron led to the withdrawal of his ambassador, but a source close to the Executive mentioned that the declaration on the existence of Algeria as a nation had especially caused the Iranian leaders of Algeria.
“We understand that Macron is in his (electoral) campaign and that he wants to get the support of the extreme right by all means, such as insulting the history of Algeria … This is unacceptable for us,” said a former Algerian minister. France holds presidential elections next April.
Algeria gained independence from France in 1962 after a bloody military struggle, and its current ruling elite has largely been made up of veterans of its liberation war against France.
The visa issue for citizens of three North African countries
The sharp escalation of tensions this weekend also comes after France’s decision to drastically reduce the number of visas granted to people from North Africa, including Algeria. These nations denounce that the measure is taken in retaliation for their countries refusing to accept migrants and asylum seekers expelled from France.
On Wednesday, the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned French Ambassador Francois Gouyette and handed him a note of “formal protest” at the decision, which it described as an “unfortunate act” that caused “confusion and ambiguity regarding his motivation and his scope”.
For his part, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita called the French move “unjustified,” while Tunisian President Kaïs Saied expressed disappointment in a phone call with Macron on Saturday, according to his office.
It is the second time that Algeria has called an ambassador to France. The first was when he called his representative in May 2020 after French media broadcast a documentary about the Hirak Movement, arising from the popular protests that broke out in 2019 in the country.
With AFP, AP and local media
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source https://pledgetimes.com/after-summoning-its-ambassador-to-paris-algeria-closes-its-airspace-to-french-military-planes/
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