New French Interior Minister announces Paris' desire to resume dialogue with Algeria

Paris: New French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez on Sunday announced his country's desire to resume "dialogue" with Algeria, amid a diplomatic crisis between the two countries that has been ongoing for more than a year.

In statements today, Nunez said: "I realize that the current tension with Algeria means that we no longer have security relations with it, nor any security exchange," stressing that this situation is a major problem for an interior minister.

"There is no doubt that action is needed in this regard," stressing that at some point, dialogue with Algeria on security issues and information exchange will have to be resumed," he added.

"It is clear that we need to resume the issuance of transit permits," but indicated that he had not yet contacted his Algerian counterpart," Nunez continued.