The Algerian foreign ministry said the actions of the French prosecutor were designed to “humiliate Algeria, with no consideration for the consular status of this agent, disregarding all diplomatic customs and practices, and in flagrant violation of the relevant conventions and treaties”. In July, Macron announced that France would back Morocco’s decades-long plan to give the Western Sahara limited autonomy under its sovereignty. That shift would align France with allies like the United States.

Algeria, however, backs the pro-independence Polisario Front, which acts as the Western Sahara’s government in exile within Algeria’s borders, the Associated Press said.