Algeria Slams France Over ’False’ TV Documentary

By Staff, Agencies

Algeria has accused France of endorsing hostility toward the North African nation after a documentary aired on French public television, which Algiers labeled as "full of lies and fabrications".

Last Thursday, state-owned France 2 released a report, ‘Rumors and Dirty Tricks: The Secret War Between France and Algeria’, showing alleged covert campaigns of intimidation, influence, and disinformation by the Algerian authorities against France.

In a statement on Saturday, Algeria’s Foreign Ministry said it summoned the charge d’affaires of the French Embassy in Algiers to protest what is “abusively presented as a documentary, but which in reality is nothing more than a tissue of counter-truths that are deeply offensive and needlessly provocative.”

The ministry said it warned France of "the extreme gravity" of escalating anti-Algerian actions, saying it "reserves the right to take whatever follow-up actions" and accusing the French Embassy of acting with an apparent "green light from French official services".

Algeria and France have tense ties rooted in colonial history, with recent disputes over migration policy and France’s support for Morocco on Western Sahara [a territory Algeria has long supported in its push for independence] adding to the friction.

The latest tension follows Algeria’s new law criminalizing French colonial crimes, demanding Paris apologize and provide reparations for atrocities during its 132-year rule.

According to the Algerian Foreign Ministry, the action of France 2 TV “represents a new stage in the escalation of anti-Algerian threats that official French circles maintain for the purpose of keeping Algerian-French relations in a state of permanent crisis.”