French interior minister likely to visit Algeria as relations thaw

By Alessandro Parodi

(Reuters) -French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Thursday there was a high chance he would visit Algeria, hailing the north African country's release of writer Boualem Sansal as a glimmer of hope that relations between the two nations could be mended.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Wednesday pardoned the French-Algerian writer who was arrested a year ago and sentenced in March to five years in jail for undermining national unity. The case strained already difficult relations between Algeria and its colonial-era master France.

Nunez told France's BFM TV that President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday had a call with Tebboune to express his gratitude and was hoping to establish a dialogue on bilateral issues.

"We need to restart this dialogue on security; it is important for the safety of our society", he said. "A dialogue that is certainly demanding, but dialogue nonetheless".

Ties between Paris and Algiers have deteriorated since France last year recognised Morocco's sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara, which Rabat wants the international community to recognise as Moroccan.

Tensions increased after Algeria detained Sansal last November. The longtime critic of Algerian authorities had been living in France and denied the charge against him, saying he never intended to offend Algeria or state institutions.

The discord came to a head in February when an Algerian citizen whom France had long tried to repatriate was arrested as the suspect in a knife attack in the city of Mulhouse that killed one person and injured three.

The French interior minister at the time, Bruno Retailleau, called for the review of migration and visa arrangements following Algeria's refusal to take back its citizens who have been ordered to leave France.

"The tug-of-war strategy does not work," Nunez said. "There have been no developments for the moment, but this is one of the issues that I will obviously raise with my counterpart." 

(Reporting by Alessandro Parodi, editing by Toby Chopra)