Scandal: Two Algeria’s spies nabbed in France, deepening diplomatic crisis

The French authorities have announced lately the arrest of two French-Algerian nationals accused of spying for the Algerian regime, deepening further the diplomatic crisis between Paris and Algiers, reported the Paris-based news outlet Sahel Intelligence.

According to the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office, a civil servant, aged 56, working for an administration of French finance ministry and a female employee working for French migration office, have provided sensitive information to the Algerian intelligence services about Algerian nationals established in France and especially those seeking asylum.

The new scandal comes after a documentary broadcast by a French TV station exposing the covert operations carried out by Algerian intelligence officers on French soil against Algerian opponents. The Algerian agents contact political opponents through social media networks offering them amnesty and return to Algeria without facing legal actions in exchange for information on other activists.

French authorities have arrested several Algerian citizens living in France for inciting violence and hatred online, targeting opponents of the Algerian government.

The Algerian junta is using its diaspora to blackmail and pressure France for political gains. Some security experts have sounded the alarm against the serious destabilization risk posed by the Algerian community established in France with the deteriorating relations between the two countries.