DR ‹ › On March 15, French Foreign Minister Jean‐Noël Barrot held a phone conversation with his Algerian counterpart, Ahmed Attaf. «The ministers exchanged views on key diplomatic issues of mutual interest in Africa and the Middle East, notably the regional escalation surrounding Iran and recent high-level discussions concerning Western Sahara», said a communiqué from the French foreign ministry. On the Algerian side, the statement stressed that the two officials «shared their perspectives on the situation in the Sahel as well as on the progress of the process to resolve the Western Sahara issue». The ministers also discussed «the serious events that have occurred in the Middle East and their regional and international repercussions». However, the Algerian communiqué made no mention of the revival of bilateral cooperation, particularly in the areas of security and migration. It also did not refer to the detention in Algeria of French journalist Christophe Gleizes, who has been sentenced to seven years in prison for «advocating terrorism». The phone conversation between the French and Algerian top diplomats comes six days after the March 10 meeting in Paris between Jean-Noël Barrot and his Moroccan counterpart, Nasser Bourita.
