ALGERIA has announced the expulsion of 12 French officials, plunging relations between the two nations to a new low.

A Foreign Affairs Ministry statement said that the consular agents had been given 48 hours to leave the country.

The statement said that the expulsions were a response to the arrest of an Algerian consular official in France.

It said the arrest aimed to “humiliate Algeria, with no consideration for the consular status of this agent, disregarding all diplomatic customs and practices and in flagrant violation of the relevant conventions and treaties.”

French counterterrorism prosecutors said that three Algerians had been arrested on Friday and faced preliminary charges of “kidnapping or arbitrary detention in connection with a terrorist undertaking.” An Algerian consular official was among them, according to French media.

The group was allegedly involved in the April 2024 kidnapping of Algerian influencer Amir Boukhors (Amir DZ), a known critic of the Algerian government who has 1.1 million followers on TikTok.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot called on Algerian authorities “to abandon” measures to expel the French officials “who have no connection with the current legal proceedings,” otherwise “we will have no other choice but to respond immediately.”