PARIS
\nFrench authorities Wednesday arrested another Algerian social media influencer as tensions soar between Paris and its North African former colony, the interior minister announced.
\nRafik M. had \u201ccalled on Tiktok for the carrying out of violent acts on French territory,\u201d said Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau on social media, without saying where he had been arrested.
\nThe influencer is one of half a dozen Algerians arrested in France over the last month on accusations of calling for violence on French territory.
\nOne of them, known as \u201cDoualemn,\u201d was deported to Algeria where the authorities promptly sent him back to France in a move that incensed Retailleau.
\nTensions have surged between France and Algeria after President Emmanuel Macron renewed French support for Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara during a visit to the kingdom last year.
\nWestern Sahara, a former Spanish colony, is mostly under the de facto control of Morocco. But it is claimed by the Algiers-backed Sahrawi separatists of the Polisario Front, who want a self-determination referendum.
\nAlgeria meanwhile has been holding French-Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal on national security charges. Sansal, who was arrested at Algiers airport in November, is a major figure in modern francophone literature.
\nRetailleau, a hard-line rightwinger, has repeatedly accused Algeria of \u201cseeking to humiliate France.\u201d
\nThe far-right in France is urging the government to take tough measures against Algiers, including canceling aid, cooperation agreements and delivering visas.
\nForeign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said earlier this month France would have \u201cno option but to retaliate\u201d if \u201cthe Algerians continue to escalate\u201d the row.
\nBut Algeria has rejected France\u2019s accusation of escalation, denouncing a \u201ccampaign of disinformation\u201d by Paris.
\nRetailleau\u2019s hard-line stance on a diplomatic issue has not met with universal approval in France, with influential former foreign minister and prime minister Dominique de Villepin accusing hin of \u201cescalation\u201d and giving into \u201cthe temptation of settling scores.\u201d
\nDefense minister Sebastien Lecornu called on Tuesday for \u201crebuilding the relationship\u201d between Algeria and France, while expressing regret over \u201cthe current excesses of the Algerian government.\u201d
\nRetailleau himself said in an interview published Tuesday that \u201cwe now need to normalize our diplomatic relations with Algeria,\u201d adding that \u201cthe time has come to turn the page.\u201d
\nAlgeria won independence from France in 1962 after a ferocious over seven year war and the scars from that conflict have never fully healed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PARIS French authorities Wednesday arrested another Algerian social media influencer as tensions soar between Paris and its North African former colony, the interior minister announced. Rafik M. had \u201ccalled on Tiktok for the carrying out of violent acts on French territory,\u201d said Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau on social media, without saying where he had been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":457053,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-457040","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n