French relief as Algeria frees jailed novelist at centre of diplomatic crisis

Almost a year to the day since French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal was arrested on arrival at Algiers airport, the Algerian presidency has granted him a pardon and allowed him to leave the country.

Sansal, 81, has been at the centre of a bitter diplomatic row between Paris and Algiers and President Abdelmadjid Tebboune's decision came in response to a direct approach from German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

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

French President Emmanuel Macron, who spoke to Sansal by phone, said France had used respect and calm to bring about his freedom.

"I thank President Tebboune for this act of humanity," said Macron.

Although Paris had for months sought to lower tensions with Algeria, it was the German president's role that secured Sansal's release because of his good relations with Algeria's leader.

Élysée Palace sources told French media that Frank-Walter Steinmeier had acted as a "trusted third party" rather than just a mediator.

Steinmeier said this week he had asked President Tebboune to pardon Sansal, "given his advanced age and fragile health", so the writer could receive medical treatment in Germany.

Tebboune said on Wednesday he had decided to respond favourably to Steinmeier's request "because of its nature and humanitarian motives".

Sansal is being treated for prostate cancer.

He was given a five-year jail sentence in July for undermining national unity with remarks that questioned Algeria's borders.

The novelist has long been a critic of Algeria's government, which had not responded favourably to France's appeal for clemency.

Relations had already been on the slide after President Macron announced France was recognising Moroccan sovereignty of Western Sahara and backed a plan for limited autonomy for the disputed territory.

Algeria backs the pro-independence Polisario Front in Western Sahara and is seen as its main ally.

The spat worsened in April when Algeria expressed outrage after one of its consular staff in France was arrested over the kidnapping of a government critic in Paris.

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

Some French commentators and political figures blamed what was seen as a confrontational stance to Algeria taken by right-wing former Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau and others on the right of French politics.

Algerian minister Sofiane Chaib also blamed Retailleau earlier this year for the "fabricated spat".

Then at the end of last month a motion by France's National Rally was narrowly passed by MPs opposing a 1968 Franco-Algerian migration accord that granted residency rights to Algerians.

Although the move was seen as a potential setback, the decision to replace Retailleau with Laurent Nuñez as interior minister appeared to signal a new mood.

"He has completely changed the way relations with [Algeria] are handled", ex-diplomat Jean-Christophe Ruffin told French radio.

Retailleau responded to Sansal's release on Wednesday speaking of "immense relief and great joy".

Tensions between the two countries remain, though, after French sportswriter Christophe Gleizes was jailed for seven years in July for allegedly trying to interview a member of a movement designed by Algeria as a terrorist group.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot praised diplomats for their work in securing Sansal's release, and said they remained focused on Gleizes, "whose imminent release we are hoping for".