Algeria issues arrest warrants for writer Daoud amid escalating tensions with France
The Algerian judiciary informed France of the move, foreign ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine said.
"We are monitoring and will continue to monitor developments in this situation closely," he said, stressing that Daoud was "a renowned and respected author" and that France was committed to freedom of expression.
In 2024, Daoud won France 's top literary prize, the Prix Goncourt, for his novel "Houris", centred on Algeria 's civil war between the government and Islamists in the 1990s.
The novel, banned in Algeria, tells the story of a young woman who loses her voice when an Islamist cuts her throat as she witnesses her family being massacred during the war.
In November, the woman, Saada Arbane, told Algerian television, using a speech aid, that the main character in the book is based on her experiences. Daoud, 54, has denied his novel is based on Arbane's life.
Arbane says she told her story during a course of treatment with a psychotherapist who became Daoud's wife in 2016. She has accused Daoud of then using the details narrated during their therapy sessions in his book.
The warrants were issued after Arbane filed a complaint against the writer with a court in Algeria.
Arbane is also suing Daoud in France for invasion of privacy.
A preliminary hearing is set to take place in Paris on Wednesday.
The writer's publisher Gallimard has defended Daoud and his wife, saying they were the victims of orchestrated attacks following the banning of the book in Algeria.
Tensions have soared between France and Algeria, its former colony, especially after Paris last year recognised Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara, where Algeria backs the pro-independence Polisario Front.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
LeMonde
8 hours ago
- LeMonde
Recognizing Palestine: Diplomatic momentum builds one week after France's announcement
At the presidential summer holiday residence, the Fort de Brégançon on France's Mediterranean coast, where the presidential couple has been enjoying their vacation since Friday, August 1, Emmanuel Macron savored his diplomatic victory. Though he had struggled with doubt and worried about the possible reprisals Israel might foment behind the scenes, had he not ultimately been right to take the plunge? On July 24, the French president announced that he would recognize the State of Palestine in September, during the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Macron described his promise, which he set out in a letter to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, as a "moral duty," at a time when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has been orchestrating famine in the Gaza Strip and accelerating the annexation of the West Bank. France, powerless to stop the conflict in Gaza, which began after Hamas committed massacres on October 7, 2023, presented its political initiative as a path to peace, intended to revive the two-state solution that Netanyahu and his far-right ministers have rejected. Unsurprisingly, the decision angered Israel and displeased the United States, its closest ally. France had good reason to fear becoming isolated on the international stage.
Local France
9 hours ago
- Local France
France carries out first aid airdrop in Gaza
"Faced with an urgent humanitarian crisis, we just conducted a food airdrop over Gaza," Macron said in English on X. "But airdrops are not enough. Israel must grant full humanitarian access to address the risk of famine," he said. He thanked France's Jordanian, Emirati, and German partners for their support. Several tonnes of food supplies will be delivered to Gaza "over several days", the French foreign and defence ministries said in a joint statement. "France is also working on land transport, by far the most effective solution for the large-scale and unhindered delivery of humanitarian goods desperately needed by the population," the statement added. France will air-drop 40 tonnes of aid into Gaza from Friday, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said earlier this week. Concern has escalated in the past week about hunger in the Gaza Strip after more than 21 months of war, which started after Palestinian militant group Hamas carried out a deadly attack against Israel in October 2023.
Euronews
9 hours ago
- Euronews
Planes drop aid into Gaza as Israeli fire reportedly kills at least 18
Planes dropped aid from European countries and beyond into Gaza on Saturday, though both aid groups and Palestinians say changes have been only incremental. The aid comes from a coalition of Jordan-led nations, including Germany, France and Spain. To circumvent restrictions on aid trucks crossing overland into Gaza, they have orchestrated parcels being dropped from the skies. French President Emmanuel Macron said that the first French aid drop of several tonnes of food was carried out on Friday and that more would continue over the weekend. Spain reportedly dropped 12 tonnes of aid deployed in 24 parachutes. This is enough for around 11,000 people, according to Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares. Germany said 14 tonnes of food and medical aid was dropped off by plane, but German Foreign Minister Johan Wadephul said that 'sufficient quantities of relief supplies can only be provided to the people by land.' Both Italy and the Netherlands are set to begin airdropping aid into Gaza next week, according to the country's governments. 'We expect Israel to do more to enable humanitarian aid via land routes and to fully honour its humanitarian agreements with the EU,' Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp told the Dutch parliament. 'The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza must end.' Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he had given the green light to military forces for the 'transport and airdrop of basic necessities to civilians in Gaza, who have been severely affected by the ongoing conflict.' Hunger has grown in Gaza during the past 22 months of war between Israel and Hamas because of aid restrictions, humanitarian workers warn. Experts say the 'worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in Gaza.' Israel enforced a complete blockade on food and other supplies for two and a half months beginning in March. It said its objective was to increase pressure on Hamas to release dozens of hostages it has held since its attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Though the flow of aid resumed in May, the amount is a fraction of what aid organizations say is needed. Situation on the ground At least 18 people were killed by Israeli fire in Gaza on Saturday, according to local hospitals. Eight of these people were reportedly aid seekers. Near a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) distribution site, Yahia Youssef, who had come to seek aid Saturday morning, described a panicked scene now grimly familiar. After helping carry out three people wounded by gunshots, he said he looked around and saw many others lying on the ground bleeding. 'It's the same daily episode,' Youssef said. In response to questions about several eyewitness accounts of violence at the northernmost of the Israeli-backed American contractor's four sites, the GHF media office said 'nothing (happened) at or near our sites.' The group's efforts to deliver aid to Gaza has been marred by violence and controversy. However, Israel and the GHF have said they have only fired warning shots and that the death toll of aid seekers has been exaggerated. An Israeli strike also hit a family house in an area between the towns of Zawaida and Deir al-Balah, killing two parents and their three children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Another strike hit a tent close to the gate of a closed prison where the displaced have sheltered in Khan Younis, killing a mother and her daughter, they said. Israel's military did not immediately respond to questions about the strikes or deaths near the aid sites. Hostage's families protest to end war Families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and their supporters protested in Tel Aviv and urged their government to push harder for the release of their loved ones. US President Donald Trump's special envoy to the region Steve Witkoff joined them a day after visiting Gaza. Of the 251 hostages who were abducted when Hamas led an attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, around 20 are believed to be alive in Gaza. The war began when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing 1,200 people, most of them civilians. A subsequent Israeli offensive has to date killed over 60,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry whose figure does not distinguish between fighters and civilians. The Israeli military says almost 900 of its soldiers have died since the start of the war.
