ALGIERS - The Algerian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday it summoned French Ambassador to Algiers, Stephane Romatet, to lodge a "strong protest" against the detention of an Algerian consul in France.

Earlier in the day, French authorities placed an Algerian consul in provisional detention over alleged links to the 2024 abduction of Amir Boukhras, a fugitive Algerian activist based in Paris known on social media as "AmirDZ".

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In its protest statement, Algiers depicts France's legal justification as "fabricated", saying that the diplomat was arrested in a public space without prior diplomatic notification, which is an "unprecedented and unjustified" breach of diplomatic norms.

The only evidence cited by French authorities, the ministry said, was the detection of the official's mobile phone near Boukhras' residence.

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Algeria demands the consul's "immediate release," warning that the "deliberate judicial escalation" undermines recent efforts to reset bilateral ties, including agreements reached during a phone call between the two nations' leaders.

The incident comes just days after French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot visited Algiers to ease tensions and revive cooperation.