French row with Algeria escalates further with tit-for-tat expulsions

France recalls its ambassador to Algeria and orders 12 Algerian diplomats to leave as tensions continue to rise.

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Algeria earlier this week expelled 12 French officials after one of its consular staff was arrested over the kidnapping of a government critic living in Paris. President Emmanuel Macron's office called the move "unjustified and incomprehensible".

However, relations have been on the slide for months. Observers have described the crisis as unprecedented since Algeria secured independence from France in 1962.

There had been hopes that tensions would ease after France's foreign minister held talks with Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune in Algiers earlier this month.

The two countries have blamed each other for what Paris has called a "sudden deterioration in our bilateral relations".