Algeria escalates France diplomatic dispute with flight ban

France's jets regularly fly over the former French colony to reach the Sahel region of West Africa, where its soldiers are helping to battle jihadist insurgents as part of its Operation Barkhane. 

A spokesperson for the French Armed Forces said Algeria had closed its airspace to two flights, but that it would have "no major consequences" for operations in the Sahel region.

"This morning when we filed flight plans for two planes, we learned that the Algerians had stopped flights over their territory by French military planes," French Armed Forces spokesman, Colonel Pascal Ianni, told AFP.

He said the decision had "slightly impacted" supply flights but "does not affect our operations" in the Sahel.

Ianni said there had been no official notification of the flight ban, and the French foreign ministry, contacted by AFP, declined to comment.

The move heightened tensions that had already flared Saturday when the Algerian government recalled its ambassador to France, citing "inadmissible interference" in its affairs.

‘Official history’ of Algeria ‘totally re-written’

According to French and Algerian media reports, Macron told descendants of figures in Algeria's 1954-62 war for independence that the country was ruled by a "political-military system" that had "totally re-written" its history.

"You can see that the Algerian system is tired, it has been weakened by the Hirak," he added, referring to the pro-democracy movement that forced Abdelaziz Bouteflika from power in 2019 after two decades at the helm.

The comments, published in French daily Le Monde, quoted Macron as saying Algeria has an "official history" which has been "totally re-written".

He said this history was "not based on truths" but "on a discourse of hatred towards France", according to Le Monde.

"Was there an Algeria nation before French colonisation?" Macron reportedly asked.

Algeria won its independence from France in 1962 after a bloody military struggle. Since independence, the North African country's ruling elite has been largely drawn from veterans of its war of liberation from France.

Protesters in the Hirak movement have been calling for political change in the gas-rich country, particularly with the clientelist system that has enriched Algeria’s elites.

Last year, the Algerian government criminalised the dissemination of what it considers "false news" that harms national unity.

Saturday's ambassador recall was the second time it had done so, having taken a similar response in May 2020 after French media broadcast a documentary about the Hirak movement.

Algerian officials have cracked down on efforts to revive the pro-democracy protests, and rights groups say dozens of people linked to it have been jailed in recent months.

Macron's office did not deny the reported comments, but said the president was discussing the war in Algeria with French youths and answering questions, not giving an official interview.

Tensions mount over visa issue

The latest diplomatic strains came amid tensions over a French decision to sharply reduce the number of visas it grants to citizens of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.

Paris said the decision had been made necessary by the former colonies' failure to do enough to allow illegal migrants in France to be returned.

When a French court denies a person's visa request, authorities must still secure a consular travel pass from his or her home country in order to forcibly expel them, a document that Paris says Algiers, Rabat and Tunis are largely refusing to provide.

Macron has reportedly ordered the number of visa deliveries to Algeria and Morocco to be halved from 2020 levels, and by a third for Tunisia.

The Algerian foreign ministry summoned France's ambassador François Gouyette on Wednesday to make a "formal protest" of the visa ruling.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and REUTERS)