French relief as Algeria frees novelist Boualem Sansal

Nearly a year after the French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal was arrested upon his arrival at Algiers airport, the Algerian presidency granted him a pardon and allowed him to leave the country.

Sansal (81 years old) was the focus of a bitter diplomatic dispute between Paris and Algeria, and President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s decision came in response to a direct call from German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

The writer was said to be on his way to Germany on a military plane on Wednesday evening, and his release was met with widespread relief.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who spoke to Sunsal by phone, said France used respect and calm to release him.

Macron said: “I thank President Tebboune for this humanitarian work.”

Although Paris sought for several months to ease tensions with Algeria, it was the role of the German president that secured Sansal’s release due to his good relations with the Algerian leader.

Sources at the Elysee Palace told French media that Frank-Walter Steinmeier acted as a “trusted third party” and not just an intermediary.

Steinmeier said this week He had asked President Tebboune to pardon Sansal“Due to his advanced age and fragile health,” so that the writer could receive medical treatment in Germany.

Tebboune said on Wednesday He decided to respond positively For Steinmeier’s request “because of his humanitarian nature and motives.”

Sensal is being treated for prostate cancer.

He was sentenced to five years in prison in July on charges of undermining national unity with statements questioning Algeria’s borders.

The novelist has long been a critic of the Algerian government, which did not respond to France’s request for clemency.

Relations had already deteriorated after President Macron announced that France recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara and supported a plan for limited autonomy for the disputed territory.

Algeria supports the pro-independence Polisario Front in Western Sahara and is considered its main ally.

The dispute worsened in April when Algeria expressed its anger after one of its consular employees was arrested in France due to the kidnapping of a government critic in Paris.

The crisis between the two countries is seen as unprecedented in more than 60 years since Algeria gained its independence from France in 1962.

Some French commentators and political figures blamed what was considered Algeria’s confrontational stance taken by right-wing former Interior Minister Bruno Retilio and others to the right of French politics.

Algerian Minister Sofiane Chaib also blamed Ritello earlier this year for the “fabricated altercation.”

Then at the end of last month, a proposal put forward by the French National Rally party was approved by a narrow majority by MPs opposed to the 1968 Franco-Algerian immigration agreement granting residency rights to Algerians.

Although the move was seen as a potential setback, the decision to replace Retillo with Laurent Nunez as Interior Minister seemed to indicate a new mood.

“It has completely changed the way I relate to [Algeria] “It is being dealt with,” former diplomat Jean-Christophe Ruffin told French radio.

Ritello responded to Sansal’s release on Wednesday, speaking of “tremendous relief and great joy.”

But tensions remain between the two countries after French sportswriter Christophe Gleizes was sentenced to seven years in prison in July for allegedly trying to interview a member of a movement classified by Algeria as a terrorist group.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot praised diplomats for their work in securing Sansal’s release, and said they remained focused on Glaze, “whose release we hope will be imminent.”