The head of the Directorate General for External Security (DGSE), Nicolas Lerner, spoke on Monday, November 10, about “signal” came from Algeria to support a “resumption of dialogue” with France, after more than a year of deep diplomatic crisis between the two countries.
“Today, we received a signal from the Algerian side about the desire to continue dialogue”said France’s director of foreign intelligence, on public radio France Inter, referring to “public and non-public signals”. “France is ready to face it, France is always ready to face it (…)considering what his demands are and in particular the release of his two compatriots”he added.
French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal was arrested in late November 2024 in Algiers and sentenced to five years in prison for “undermining national unity”, while journalist Christophe Gleizes, who in the first instance was sentenced to seven years in prison for “apologizing for terrorism”, awaits an appeal hearing on December 3.
“The most serious crisis since independence”
For Nicolas Lerner, that makes no sense “It is in the interests of both countries to remain in this hampered situation”. Since the summer of 2024, Paris and Algiers have been immersed in a “a very serious crisis, perhaps the most serious crisis since Algerian independence”in 1962, but “the channel (communication) never been cut »according to her.
“We have reached a very low point in operational cooperation on counterterrorism issues. Nevertheless, I am sure, thanks to the channels we have, if the Algerian services are able to detect a threat on national territory, they will report it.assesses Nicolas Lerner.
